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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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.

"That ain't a compliment!" Shura snaps, immediately wrapping her arms around herself. Sure she had something of a coat on, but that was to keep her warm indoors, not in this terrible mess. It's sleeting and snowing and cold, and Shura hates this weather on a good day.

But now, in the freezing cold, she can hear that crying sound. It sends a chill down her spine--what kid would be out here all on their own? It was either too late or a trap. Shura can't shake the ominous feeling, drawing her sword before following after him. Fang wasn't compatible with fire, but at least she'd be ready to strike if her gut instinct proved true.

"You're going to owe me a drink after this," she grits out. Behind her, Shishi looks less than happy to be getting his paws wet, very carefully trying to step in Shura and Strange's footprints.

"I'll buy you all the drinks you want," Strange muses, attention still focused on the crying sound. He pauses for a moment before walking towards it, feet pushing through the snow. He makes it about three feet or so before the darkness annoys him enough that Strange casts a fire spell. A small ball of fire hovers directly above his hand. It provides barely any illumination. But it at least provides a little bit and helps Strange see just the slightest bit more.

"Be ready," he says, suspecting that Shura's already ready and primed to fight. "I honestly have no idea what's out here."

Which is simultaneously thrilling and a little scary. But no matter. Whatever it is, Strange is confident he can face it.

All the drinks and then some, Shura finishes to herself. It's a matter of keeping quiet, keeping close to Strange, and keep as close as possible to the inn.

Shura had pried and asked questions about the monsters, posing as a curious tourist. Were they different here in Didymos? Hachiro had once mentioned monsters and the Long Night, but even his forest was within the claimed lands, no need to fear them. But this, Bayobats and Shade Imps and the Darkener--

Shura hears something, the crunch of snow, the sound of something not man-sized moving in the dark. She moves in. If he could use magic, she would provide cover. Retreating would be their best option.

Strange doesn't hear the crunch. Instead, his attention is focused on where he thought the noise was coming from, where he thought he could hear someone. He takes a few more steps away from the inn, frowning into the darkness.

He can't keep the fire burning continuously: even fire hovering an inch or so above one's hand has enough heat to blister the hand. Strange snuffs it out, moving it to another hand as he starts to talk. "They can see the light. You'd think—"

It only takes the moment before Strange can summon the fire to a different hand when whatever Shura heard in the show charges at him. Strange is caught completely off guard as a greater bearbat downright tackles him, knocking him to the ground while his animas flies off of his shoulders with a worrying thump.

Shura hears it move, but it's too dark for her to see just what it is or read its movements. She's expecting for Strange to be a little more aware of his surroundings, so the fact that he's tackled like that takes her by surprise. She curses, but reacts swiftly, striking at the bearbat and trying to force it off of Strange. His animas will have to wait. Shishi follows Shura's lead, snarling and snapping at one of the bearbat's legs.

"Get up! We gotta get back." They established that there was something out there, that should be enough to satisfy Strange's curiosity. Shura just had to hope he could get up and move on his own.

As Shura and Shishi strike at the bearbat, their blows strike true. The thing starts to bleed. At the same time, however, it rakes Strange with his claws: he bites his tongue in order to keep from yelling out in pain. The bearbat falls off of him, snarling as it looks from Shura to Shishi to the now bleeding Strange. It's a nasty cut, and he's bleeding profusely from his side.

"Not without Bell!" Strange calls out, as he tries to scramble away from the bearbat. His animas is nowhere to be seen. Strange calls forth some fire and lobs a fireball at the bearbat, right as the thing lunges for him again. He's the one who's bleeding, he's the one that's the weakest at the moment.

If it was a pet or something less than what Shura suspected the creature to be, she'd tell him to forget her and just run. He's bleeding, Shura could hear the tear of fabric. Damn him, he was going to get them both killed. But she knows that she couldn't leave Shishi behind either.

"Hurry up and find her, then!" Shura barks, slipping her hand into a pocket on the inside of her jacket and pulling out a piece of paper. An amulet, a fire spell that was handy when she had the blood of her target, but it took a few seconds to use. "Shishi, keep him busy!"

It is might be too late to completely protect Strange. Shishi leaps into the fray, taking advantage of the fireball. But Shishi is only a little lion. The fire stuns the bearbat, but not before he gets a good swipe at Strange, and the bearbat's wild flailing after being hit with the fireball lands a hit on Shishi, knocking him to the side with a thump. It's long enough that Shura can slide the amulet along the edge of her blade, soaking the paper in the bearbat's blood. The chant is low and brief, but it works. The monster screeches as flames begin to consume him from the inside.

This might be a victory, but Shura doesn't have much hope. Something is making its way down the street and around the corner, and Shura suspects it's more fiendly than friendly.

Whatever Shura did, it worked. The bearbat screeches in pain as it starts to die. Awkwardly, Strange gets to his feet, clutching his side in pain. For all he might yammer about how he's been in a war, it's obvious he never was hurt like he currently is. He's bleeding a lot.

Strange conjures another fireball just to provide a little bit more light. "Bell?" he calls out. There's an obvious strain of worry in his voice as his eyes frantically scan the ground. There's a small, sniffling noise and Strange bends down, finally finding his animas. She's in equally bad shape from being thrown about: her breathing is shallow and one of the legs is sticking out in an awkward angle.

His attention is focused entirely on the poor, dying, animal. Strange has zero clue that something's coming down the street.

This is the time for action, not for anguish. He's injured, Shura can't tell how bad, and she can't tell just how badly off his animas is. Across the road, Shishi is slowly getting to his feet, stumbling as he tries to make his way back to Shura. Guilt nags at her; something is broken, but there's nothing she can do until they're safe. At least she doesn't have to physically drag him back to safety. She can't say the same about Strange.

"Get up and run!" Let the thing die somewhere warm if it's that bad, she thinks, but does not say. There's not enough time to say anything more, anyway. There's an unearthly howl, and the following silence only lasts for a moment before a pair of imps set themselves on Shura. They'll avoid Strange for the moment because of his fireball, but they keep a close eye on him.

For the moment, Shura holds her own, but it's just her and her blade, and she has to protect Shishi as well.

Run? Like hell. The unearthly howl draws Strange's attention as he turns to look at Shura. Shit. He needs to protect her. Getting to his feet, Strange stands near his poor, broken animas as he looks over at Shura. Precision isn't necessarily his strongest suit, but he can't afford to miss now.

Strange mutters a few words and launches the fireball at one of the imps. He continues muttering, staring at the fire all the while. At the last moment, the fireball splits in two, and moves to hit each of the imps. Fortunately, he grazes them enough that the imps go up in smoke, with a scream. Unfortunately, some of the fire grazes Shura as well.

And unfortunately for Strange, there aren't just two imps. Another pair move from the shadows and latch themselves onto Strange.

Shura is grateful for the help, though the fire comes to close, burning her arm as it passes. But at the same time, why wasn't he listening to her? If he ran and made it back to the inn, then she'd just have to worry about taking care of herself. Things would be easier if she could just focus on protecting herself.

She turns to Strange, tries to rush towards him to fend off the shade imps, but something grabs her by the hair and yanks her back. It's a third imp, a fourth one scampering over. She'll have to deal with these first, keeping her injured arm close to her side until one of the imps grabs it and bites. Yelping in pain, she slashes at it, trying to free herself from at least one of the monsters. Strange is on his own, and Shura has to hope he can conjure more fire to protect himself.

Strange does manage to conjure more fire: another fireball appears over his hand. One of the imps lets go of him and flees while another, determined to take Strange down, latches on further, biting hard on his shoulder.

He tries to move the fire to take out the one on his shoulder. It's awkward at best: setting something on your shoulder on fire while also trying not to set yourself on fire is weird as hell. And as Strange manages to destroy that one, two more show up. One tears into the wound at his side while another claws at his chest.

Strange is getting the feeling that he might not make it out of this.

"You need to run!" he calls out to Shura, unaware of just how wounded she currently is.

If it's solid, she can slice it. It's a strategy that usually works pretty well for her. Even without her master's power behind her, she can usually keep herself of of trouble. If she was on her own, she'd try jumping on a roof to see if she could shake the imps better that way. That would leave Shishi defenseless, not to mention Strange. A quick glance back to him tells her more than enough; they were both screwed.

"I'm a little busy here!" Running would be great! They both needed to run! But running is becoming less and less of an option. The imp releases her arm, drops to dodge her sword, but is soon on her legs, biting and clawing at her calves. Shura bites back a yell, falling to her knee and swiping at whichever of the imps is closest to her. Not far from her, Shishi roars as he's beset by another imp.

If he's a goner, the least he can do is try and make it so Shura stays alive. Strange sends the fire towards Shura, snaking around her legs to try and destroy the one clawing her calves. That one vanishes, but as the fire leaves Strange, a few more of the imps get the jump on him, biting and clawing.

One of them succeeds at it's objective: Strange had already constantly been bleeding out from the side, but a large claw to the chest is enough to break his concentration. The fire, which had been circling around Shura, looking for another imp to destroy, suddenly snuffs itself out as Strange falls to the ground, bleeding profusely.

The shade imps take advantage of this and proceed to scratch and claw at Strange's body with reckless abandon, making sure that though he's down, he stays down. He is straight up dying at the moment.

He's trying to protect her, the great big idiot. There's no reason to send the fire he can manage her way when he's in so much trouble on his own. She'd scold him for it later. If she could. Even with her leg freed, the imp's claws sank deep into her skin and muscle, and she doesn't bother to hope that she could still jump as high as she needed to make her way to the rooftops. At east she can mostly get to her feet now.

"Strange! Damn it--" One imp goes down when she strikes out, but it's not enough. If reinforcements could just show up, that'd be great!

But that won't be so lucky. Shura tries for a moment to get to Strange, but the imps are yanking at her hair and pulling her away from him, scratching and biting at her hands, another going back to her legs to pull her back down to the snow. This was too much for her alone, and she really didn't want to die in the snow. That was going salt in the mortal wound right here.

The gash that was on his side only gets bigger as the imps continue to tear and claw at him. Strange does make an attempt to move and attempt to fling some of them off, but after one vital scratch, he stops moving entirely and his hand slumps to the ground in defeat: he's dead.

The imps that were on him now have no more use for him. A few of them look up from Strange's corpse, see that Shura and Shishi are still moving, and launch themselves in the direction of the other two instead.

She doesn't realize at first when Strange bites it, too busy fending off the imps. She can cut down an couple of them, but she swears they're multiplying. And then, she realizes, that she can see fewer of the bastards on Strange, that he has stopped moving.

Shit.

It was too late for him, too late for her, but Shura will take a bit more effort to take down. With Strange dead, she had to focus on herself and on Shishi. If there had been shelter immediately available, maybe she could have made it through, wounds and all, but the door to the inn remains bolted tight, and all she can do is struggle her way down the street.

Eventually, she too is overcome. She isn't fast enough to swat off the imp coming at her from behind and the one crawling up her leg at the same time. She doesn't recall any of them being close to her throat, but there it is, snapping and yanking. Shura falls in the snow and does not get up.

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Event #2: The Long Night

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