Event log: Who What Where Wendigo

[hadrielmods]

Who: Everyone participating in the wendigo event!
What: The accidental-cannibalism-turned-horrifying-monster event that is the Who What Where Wendigo event!
Where: All around the city
When: Feb 14th-March 1st
Warnings: Cannibalism, body horror, evil monsters lurking around.

Don't forget to check up on the Wendigo Guide that Ami posted!

On February 14th, Rage and Fear decide to give Hope a little bit of help taking care of the residents of Hadriel - they'll provide some food for awhile. How nice! Except, of course, that there's an extra ingredient in this food. A can of beef stew? Yeah... that might not be beef. But hey, it still tastes pretty good! Unfortunately, some spirits slipped through the Door last time it opened, and they're ready to possess anyone who participates in cannibalism - even if they don't know it.

Anyone who eats the provided meat will be possessed by a wendigo spirit. Over the course of twelve days, they will transform into a monster that feels little but rage and hunger. While at first it can be explained away easily enough (people are super annoying, and isn't everyone a little hungry most of the time?), by February 18th, wendigo transformations are impossible to ignore. A few days after, on February 22nd, the anger and cravings of the wendigo spirit will overcome all other emotions, and possessed characters may begin hunting.

The physical and mental transformation will be complete by February 26th. The possessed characters will have lost themselves completely at that point. While physical healing (done by a character with Hope's blessing or another healing ability) can turn back the physical and some mental effects, they will remain possessed until death or until Hope removes the wendigo spirit - which can only be done on the altar of Hope's temple. So have fun dragging your angry, possessed friends there!

On March 1st, Rage does Hope a solid (because she feels sort of bad) and kills all remaining wendigos. Upon revival, the spirit will be gone and the character will be fully recovered. Hopefully no one holds what they did while possessed against them!

► This log covers February 14th-March 1st.
► Feel free to make your own logs, as well
► Please tag headers of threads with content warnings where they apply
► Please put your character's name and open/closed in the subject line of your starters!
► Please report any character deaths right here!

Comments

[amos_moses]

Amos fetches a pair of glasses to go with the bottle on the table, then rummages in the cabinet and produces a container of biscuit-ish things. The texture is unfamiliar to him, a bit fuzzy, but it tastes exactly like a nice gingersnap cookie and Amos really prefers to eat something along with his drink, unless he intends to get blackout drunk. He sets these out and offers Maketh one, considering her question. At last he ventures forth a: "Abilities in what way?"

[mismanagement]

[Maketh considers the biscuits and finally takes one. It would probably be bad form to pass out in front of Amos. She needs to establish credibility with him first.] There was a man under my command who could move heavy objects with his mind, or read minds if he focused. Sometimes he claimed to see the future.

[It's a simplification of the circumstances. The Inquisitor was never really under Maketh's control, no matter what things said on paper. She'd thought them on friendly terms until he executed her men. Then she'd realized that such things as friendship or even camcorder were impossible with something like that.]

You mentioned your world had magic. We called it something else on my home, but it existed just the same.

[amos_moses]

"Ah." Amos is not unfamiliar with telekinesis or even clairvoyance. He takes his own cookie and sits down, sticking the snack into his mouth before he reaches to pour them both a generous sampling of the vodka. He slides a glass Maketh's way, then removes his cookie and chews happily before answering.

"I have one ability. Mine is a very minor talent, with a small range: I can talk to animals."

Which is fairly useless, as far as most people are concerned, but Amos finds it can be surprisingly helpful in some situations.

[mismanagement]

[Maketh chews the food thoughtfully. It's sweeter than she expected, with a small bite of spice. She rather likes it.] I imagine that's useful.

[There are many possibilities. Scouting, for one thing. Especially in open areas. An enemy might scan for electronics, but no one pays attention to a stray loth-cat scrounging about for supplies. She could have found a use for that. It would have made fighting the rebels much easier, Maketh thinks.

She takes a drink, closing her eyes at the familiar burn. It feels good. Like coming home.] Can you speak to the animals here? I imagine they're different, but perhaps...

[amos_moses]

"Well, I think it's useful, but not everyone does. It's not as helpful, as, say, bein' able to set things on fire with your mind. Or bein' able to lift things no human can lift." Amos shrugs. "That, an' my range is pretty limited. 'bout a half-mile, is all. People with more power can reach farther."

Amos is, on the general line of things, just barely on the scale of powers at all. The only sort who might be ranked below him would be people with no talents at all...and there are so many more who rank above him when it comes to terms of supernatural abilities. Amos is small beans, and he knows it, but he's content with it. He's useful enough and he likes what he can do. Animals are fascinating.

"I can't talk to the monsters, but the new birds they've brought in - I can talk to those. Anything that's just plain animal.... Once it starts getting on the monster scale, or if it's a shape-shifter, or if it's a magical animal, I can't talk to it. Which is really damn useful in sussing out they ain't actually animals, but not much past that." Amos has, on occasion, saved several missions and errands from being tricked into a trap by kitsune, or weres, or other assorted mythical creatures who only appear as harmless animals.

[mismanagement]

I have no power like that. [Maketh offers as an explanation. It seems important to her, being able to do anything of the sort. Even now, after she's served next to the Inquisitor and plotted against the surviving Jedi leading the rebel cell on Lothal. She felt very small next to the Inquisitor, and utterly insignificant cowering before Lord Vader. She often feels that way now, when she slows down enough to think about it. Bowed down under the mounting weight of all she must do.] Do the animals know anything about this place? Anything more than we do?

[amos_moses]

Amos takes a pull of the vodka, then nibbles on his cookie. "Well, not as such. They don't really...think like us, yanno? The fish in the river breed too fast to remember whatever first happened here, an' the birds aren't from here to start with. They're a little annoyed by bein' underground. An' that's it, which is the freaky part. There ain't anything else here. No bugs, no bats, no moles, no lizards, nothing."

He grimaces, because it's strange and unnatural and he doesn't like the echoing silence that it leaves in his head. He's too used to tuning out massive amounts of animal chatter, like a radio constantly playing in the background. And now? Nothing but the blips of the birds and the fish. Back when it was just the fish it had been a lot creepier. Now, it's better. The birds are nicer company.

[mismanagement]

[Maketh frowns.] Not even rats?

[That feels wrong to her. There ought to be rodents picking away at the refuse, though Maketh admits she hasn't seen any. There was something here before they came. The buildings didn't create themselves out of nothing, and they didn't fall just from the force of time.

Maketh pinches the bridge of her nose with a sigh.] This place makes no sense.

[amos_moses]

"Not even rats. It's creepy as fuck. Pardon my French." Amos takes another drink of the vodka, coughing a little afterwards. "It doesn't make sense, no, but from what I can figure, we're the pawns in round two of the gods' battle here. I ain't figured out yet what happened to....whatever lived here first, but it has something to do with Fear. Which is why we're here to start with: Hope says Fear opened the magic door that is drawing us all here. But Hope can't send us back, he doesn't know how."

Amos takes a big bite of cookie, but makes sure it's gone before he adds, "That's why Hope's trying to resurrect the other gods. He figures one of them might know how to send us home. In the meantime, though, we're pretty much the fuel for the conflict: the gods take strength from our emotions, get more powerful with what we feel."

It had been astonishingly easy to get that much from Hope. Just a little bit of friendly chatter and being polite. Amos is good at being polite and friendly.

[mismanagement]

[Maketh frowns, wanting to ask what French means, but doesn't. There are more important things to discuss.] I suppose he didn't indicate what powers the door, then?

[Everything needs a power source. And if it's not their emotions, then perhaps the Door took whoever or whatever lived here previously. Killed them, consumed them - something like that. Maketh takes a long drink. She hates not knowing the rules.]

I doubt they intend to send us home, though. What does that give them?

[Why let their meal wander off?]

[amos_moses]

"Hope seems fairly straightforward. Not the type for open deceit."

Just as a not aside. Honestly, he could be a lying liar, but so far Amos has seen little evidence of it. Hope seems rather like an optimistic golden lab: willing to please but perfectly puzzled by these strange humans.

"All he said of the door was it was a magical artifact. They can be self-powered, where I come from. Just how they do."

[mismanagement]

Perhaps. [Their full intentions remain to be seen. Maketh isn't inclined to trust anyone that calls themselves a god. She frowns at that, leaning forward a little.] Could you tell me more? About these artifacts of yours. It's possible we have similar things in my home, but I would not have been privy to them. And all the devices I know about that could do--anything of this scale, really, require some sort of power. Even if it is unconventional.

She finishes her biscuit, in the meantime.]

[amos_moses]

"Well, it's just...how they work? If they're divinely created, then they just...run on their own? I mean some are powered by sacrifices, and some eventually run out of power...."

Amos frowns a little, and gestures with his cookie before finishing it off and taking another. He takes a short drink of the vodka, and bites into the cookie.

"It ain't my field of expertise. I've only run across things like that every now'n'then. I'm not..." Amos shrugs. "I'm the personal assistance of my boss. She runs a large organization. When I'm with her, I help her run things at home. She sends me around the world as her liason and personal representative to our other branches. Sometimes I help with an old mercenary friend of hers, run missions with them."

"So while I know a lot of stuff 'bout the supernatural creatures, it's mainly for survival. Not as an actual field of study."

[mismanagement]

[That makes absolutely no sense. Maketh frowns, reaching for her glass again. The vodka feels good when she drinks, just enough of a bite and starting to slip into comfortable warmth.] I..see.

[Personal assistant, is he? And the kind that runs missions alongside mercenary. Perhaps he works for a certain clan like the Hutts. That makes him a touch more dangerous than she anticipated. Interesting.] Then tell me how you've survived such devices.

[If he has information, then Maketh wants it.]

[amos_moses]

"Mostly by being very lucky, by carrying a blessed artifact that marks me as bein' under the protection of a god, an' by knowing a lot of mythology so I'm familiar with the way certain legends go. Mythology ain't always right but it all has elements of truth in it, so even knowing a little helps."

Amos sips his vodka and adds, "An' I'm polite. That helps the most. There ain't many creatures who'll harm you if you're being polite."

[mismanagement]

[Well, that's frustratingly vague. Maketh thumbs the edge of her glass, frowning. She doubts that he's lying, though. More likely that the rules that govern Amos' world just don't apply here. She doubts being under the protection of a god - especially one of their motley rulers - would do much good right now.] Politeness has its limits. Did your world have any myths about these gods?

[amos_moses]

"Not these in particular, no. But they're what I'd call a primitive pantheon? Named for characteristics, not Named," and Amos pronounces that in a way the capitol letter was almost visible, "So the rules they go by are likely to be less complex as well. For instance, they gain power from emotions, not rituals or blood sacrifice."

Amos shrugs. "An' they all like it when you're polite to 'em. Hope especially. So far, they seem to be...mmm, how to say...they act more human-like than some of the stranger gods I've seen? Emotional, get tired, respond to praise, things of that sort. Which makes it a little easier to work with 'em. An' they certainly don't seem to be omnipotent, though I'm not sure on the omnipresent...don't seem like it, though.

[mismanagement]

[Maketh considers this, tapping her nails against the table. It's not what she wants to hear, but that doesn't mean she can dismiss it.] it is significant that they have temples, then?

[The Jedi had temples, she remembers, though most of them have been destroyed. They were sources of power, though, far beyond the history and whatever corpses happened to be entombed in them.]

[amos_moses]

Amos waved a hand back and forth. "I haven't seen enough to say, really. They're useful for getting into contact with them, but they don't seem to be adversely affected by any damage or vandalism done to the temples." He rolls a shrug.

"Sorry, but that's about all I've got on the temples....oh! And that whatever emotion they're ruled by, it gives you a little, uh, magical boost to that emotion. So if you're feeling down, go sit in Hope's temple for a bit, it'll cheer you up."

[mismanagement]

Damn. So fire bombing the temples probably wouldn't do anything except make the gods annoyed. That had been one of Maketh's vague plans. Still...

Maketh frowned. "What if someone's--power, happened to be strengthened by certain emotions?"

It's said that the Sith feed on rage.

[amos_moses]

"That, I don't know," Amos returns, promptly, with a wry face. "Sorry. Only way to find out might be to experiment, but, uh, not always the best idea with any power, let alone with unknown gods here."

He taps his tongue piercing against the roof of his mouth, then adds, "I don't happen to know of anyone with powers like that here, anyway."

[mismanagement]

"It would have it's risks," Maketh murmurs. Even so, she's thinking about it, trying to come up with an experiment that might prove it one way or another. But how to conduct the tests without the gods knowing, or at least without them realizing its purpose? Now there's the real question. She'll have to work on that.

Well, and find a proper test subject.

Maketh blinks at Amos. "--I don't either, but...there was a man, in my home, who's power was impacted by such things."

She served with the Inquisitor, therefore she's somewhat familiar with his tactics and abilities. Perhaps she can find someone similar here.

[amos_moses]

"Huh. Interestin'." Amos swirls the last of his drink around in his glass, then downs it. "I guess you could ask around on the network for volunteers, mebbe."

He's not sure she'd find anyone willing to volunteer for experimenting with the gods, but, well, they'll never know unless they try.

[mismanagement]

I have been making inquiries. Quietly. [It must be done carefully if it's to be done at all. Maketh finishes her drink with a sigh.] So far no one has come forward. Though in my experience, anyone with power - real power - rarely shares it.

[She watches Amos for a moment. His power isn't insignificant.] I'll admit my world does things -- differently, however.

[amos_moses]

"Yeah. If you have the real kind of power, either it comes the the 'keeping it quiet' kind or the 'stark raving mad' kind. Frankly I'm just glad the latter ain't around."

Amos has faced down more than his share of cackling, power-crazed maniacs; in his opinion more than one is way too many. Sadly, working with Kat, he attracted quite a few enemies, and given Kat's powerful demonic aura, well. Amos rolled a shrug.