wastemods: (Default)
wasteyard mods ([personal profile] wastemods) wrote in [community profile] wasteyard2019-06-05 02:10 pm

BONFIRE LIGHTS IN THE MIRROR OF SKY.

WHO: Everyone in game.
WHAT: Our first event log!
WHERE: Anywhere in the world core.
WHEN: After the storms begin.
NOTES: Expect surreal horror and possible violence. Please use common sense when warning for other content.



Photo by drainrat

PREVIOUSLY, ON THE WASTEYARD.

The world remains divided into a land where either a hazy sun shines muted light above or a full moon casts silvery shadows below. They hang fixed, as if nailed in place, more like theatrical props than far-off heavenly bodies. And you can still see only one of them, depending on which side you arrived.

Meanwhile, the storm rages.

On both sides of the world, the rain starts and doesn't stop. The temperature drops, transforming torrential rain into icy snow. Gusts of wind become gales and spin detritus into shrapnel, man-made disasters turned natural. Shadows spin wildly—almost comically—in cyclones, before bursting into nothingness; if you aren't careful, the winds will snatch you, too. Out here, the only protection you might have is cooperating with each other.

Indoors, it's certainly warmer, but that just means water doesn't freeze. Buildings flood with chilly water that rises no matter how many stairs you climb. Architecture groans under the pressure of earthquakes, sending more water cascading through the ceiling before it disappears into cracks below. Is anywhere safe?

Well, yes. One place, splintered into many. The mirrors in ash-gray frames stand sentinel, scattered throughout the world. They emit warm light from the other side; sunlight spills moonside and moonlight reflects sunside. Water impossibly flows around and away from them, leaving behind untouched earth that stays still and silent. Standing in front of them gives you a respite, a tiny bubble of safety to wait out the worst.


INTO THE LABYRINTH.

Once you plunge indoors—unless you're really that determined to take your chances in the storm—you'll find every building with electricity experiencing a brownout. The overhead lights flicker and radios crackle with static, warbling broken news reports and tunes. They eavesdrop on strings of Morse code and private confessions on ham radio. If it's ever been broadcast on the airwaves, public or personal, you might hear it if you tune to the right station; you might even hear yourself, replaying a conversation you've had or will have. And sometimes the audio seems pointed, preternaturally so, as if tuned to your own thoughts and words.

Meanwhile, the waters continue to rise. The halls stretch long, seemingly infinite and twisted into knots. In some of them, no matter how far you walk, it seems like you never get any closer to the end; in others, you hit one dead end and can't stop hitting dead ends, no matter how many times you retrace your steps. None of that's unusual.

But if you delve deep into dark enough recesses (whether accidentally or intentionally), the world calms. The water recedes. Mirrors materialize in the dead ends, scratching out an "X" in the frame before your eyes. If you touch one, the glass falls away in ribbons, flowing like quicksilver and fleeing farther into the darkness. It reveals a hole on the other side, so deep a black it looks flat. Wherever it goes, it's so dark you can't see the other side.

And that's when you hear a sound like someone inhaling and then exhaling, steadily breathing around you. No...you feel it. A presence that has no form no matter how hard you look, but follows you in creaks and groans. It feels like being stalked by a monster in a maze.

Running from it only intensifies the feeling. Attacking makes it even worse. Calm acceptance is the only way to lessen or even neutralize it, but that's something you'll have to discover for yourself. In the end, there's no way to defeat it. You have to trust your instincts and believe it's there, despite the fact that you can't see or touch it.


CHANGING SIDES.

Elsewhere, it starts as a smell.

As the ground shudders and cracks, the stench of rot comes from the fissures. Mirrors and windows melt off walls, and a strong sense of vertigo comes and goes, like cresting waves. Looking out a window shows buildings and bridges breaking off of the labyrinth and drifting—or plummeting—away. They dissolve into nothingness as they vanish into the abyss, like they were bathed in acid. The already fragile world is falling apart.

It comes with a pervasive sense of wrongness, perhaps ironic in a world where everything is already wrong. But that's when it happens: You look up and realize you're no longer where you started. The sun or the moon, whichever you expected, is no longer in the sky. Instead, on the horizon lies its opposite.

It's a phenomenon unique to areas with high concentrations of ash mirrors and hallways, particularly when there's someone else on the other side. Sometimes the instability flips your positions, so one of you is now in the dimension where the other previously stood, while other times it drags you both together into the light of the sun or moon. It's like you resonate, magnets attracting or repelling each other in little pockets of peace.


THE LOCKED ROOM.

Amidst the chaos, as the world shifts and there's no telling where or when you are, you slip through a crack. Or maybe you're a weirdo who climbed through the hole left behind a mirror.

In either case, the fissure is both literal and metaphorical, influenced by the unstable world and your actions. Maybe you step through a door, crawl through a crevice, close your eyes, or do something else to take you between here and there. Whatever the case, you find yourself in a room unlike any others you've seen in this distorted world. Well...once you look closer, anyway. On the surface, it may just be another kitchen, ballroom, or cellar.

But in these rooms, it doesn't matter which side of the divide you were on. Not only because you can't see whatever lights the sky, but because they lie between dimensions. There are no windows and no doors; you'll only find walls the same mottled gray as everything else in this place. Attacking them gets you nowhere. Any damage is there and gone, like the erased moments between flashes of a strobe light. There is no easy way out.

But there is a mirror. Hairline cracks run through its surface, shattering a single reflection into multitudes. Set in an ash-gray frame like so many others, it's left somewhere in the room, whether hanging on a wall, haphazard on the floor, or leaning against some furniture. It emanates the skin-prickling sensation of being watched. Turning away doesn't help; you can feel it gazing at your back.

The haunted feeling only subsides when you stare back. And you should stare back, because these mirrors are your escape route. Staring into them will reveal someone on the other side with the same predicament. Surprisingly, you can hear each other when you speak. It even comes translated if you don't speak the same language, although your mouths still sync to your native tongues. It's like a poorly dubbed movie.

Touching the mirror gives you the impression it's somehow leeching off you, trying to fill those cracks. Try to pull your hand away and you'll find it's a little difficult, like unsticking your tongue from a cold pole. Moreover, you'll feel a compulsion to tell the truth, to do something real.


THE GREAT ESCAPE.

For those of you left behind where the sun and moon still shine, keep an eye on your own mirrors, especially broken ones that seem to be influenced by something invisible. They display a room that most decidedly isn't your own, acting more like a window than a mirror. And whoever's inside, trapped, might call on you for help. You won't be able to hear them, though, so how are you with body language?

Meanwhile, for escapees...

No matter how you escape the rooms, you might notice something a little strange once you get back to the labyrinth. Well, stranger. For a brief window of time (one that grows longer with each room you escape), you'll discover the sun and moon occupy the same sky. The area you've entered is a temporary nexus of sorts, one that fuses the dimensions into something that almost seems stable.

It feels right, but the world isn't strong enough to hold itself together for long.



calculo: (E I G H T Y F O U R)

[personal profile] calculo 2019-06-17 12:47 pm (UTC)(link)
You can't.

( why is that so hard for him to understand? people had tried to reason with the rider before and it didn't work. there was no reasoning with something that just thrived off blood and death. that was all he wanted and he hadn't gotten it in awhile. robbie worried that he'd go against his 'only kill those that deserve it' in this place because of what it was doing to him. )

You can't help me. ( he breathes out, ragged and desperate. ) And I don't want to hurt you.
itselbitch: (hello is it me ur looking for)

[personal profile] itselbitch 2019-06-17 01:15 pm (UTC)(link)
[ he offers robbie a small, defeated smile at that. he does appreciate it greatly, that robbie doesn't really want to hurt him. without any other way out though, there's only so much that can be done. ]

I don't either, Robbie. But I don't think we're being given much choice.

[ he swipes his hand smoothly through the air in front of him with the twist of his wrist, casting a circle of flame about his feet. ]

I'll be okay. I've got a few tricks up my sleeve, and. Maybe it's a bit cliché and cheesy to say at a time like this when things are about to get all comic book movie on us, but. We'll get through this.

[ or neither of them are getting out of this maze of rooms alive. there isn't really an alternative. ]
calculo: (S I X T Y F I V E)

[personal profile] calculo 2019-06-17 01:48 pm (UTC)(link)
You think that's going to protect you? ( robbie hopes it will. the rider doesn't care. he'll go through any boundary, any barrier. he hasn't found something that'll stop him yet. )

You're barely holding yourself together. You shouldn't be doing anything that exert yours energy. ( how's that wound, eliot? still painful? yeah, thought so. )

Just ⁠— don't talk to me. ( maybe he can calm down. maybe he can fight this off. maybe he can stop himself from trying to go through that mirror. )
itselbitch: (just. why.)

[personal profile] itselbitch 2019-06-17 02:07 pm (UTC)(link)
[ he opens his mouth, ready to retort, but he lets the words die. robbie doesn't want to listen, and there's not much else he can do about it. eliot isn't a fool: he knows how much his injury limits him on top of the physical limitations of his magic, but he isn't helpless either.

there's not really much more he can say to reassure robbie now. the man's already decided.

if being quiet helps though, he'll do that, and so he does, eyes following robbie as he silently hopes the man can control whatever it is. ]
calculo: (S E V E N T Y S I X)

[personal profile] calculo 2019-06-17 03:31 pm (UTC)(link)
You waiting for something to happen?

( he lets the quiet drag but he can still feel eliot watching. so far, he's been successful in keeping things at bay but he knows it's a matter of time. he knows he won't be able to keep it down. his eyes are still glowing and his body is hot, fire simmering underneath his skin. )

Like a sideshow?
itselbitch: (fuck's sake)

[personal profile] itselbitch 2019-06-17 03:55 pm (UTC)(link)
Jesus, you're the one who told me to stop talking.

[ he runs a hand through his hair, brushing it back in frustration. this already isn't the easiest situation to deal with. he doesn't need robbie turning into margo when she runs out of her favorite foundation on him too. ]

What do you want me to do, go stand in the corner with a fire extinguisher?
calculo: (S I X T Y E I G H T)

[personal profile] calculo 2019-06-17 04:44 pm (UTC)(link)
( okay, he wasn't wrong. he'd told eliot to be quiet and he'd been the one to break that silence. he runs his hand through his hair and comes back over to the mirror to peer out at eliot. )

You don't have a fire extinguisher.

( dry, droll.

he clenches his hands into fists and feels the fire licking at his sleeves now, catching but not hurting him. he's going to end up turning and smashing his way out of here. hopefully not through the mirror though.

por favor no quiere lastimar a nadie por favor. )
Edited 2019-06-17 16:45 (UTC)
itselbitch: (hello is it me ur looking for)

[personal profile] itselbitch 2019-06-20 03:31 am (UTC)(link)
[ it's hard not to appreciate the attempt at biting comedy given the otherwise seemingly dire circumstances, and he offers a wry smile to match it. ]

Yeah, that'd just be too convenient it, wouldn't it?

[ he hums, rolling his head to the side in concern as the fire forms and spreads but never catch. Definitely seems like a kind of magic, whatever it is. eliot isn't really sure how well he can hold his own against whatever is about to force its way out, but maybe the mirror can against protect him and this will all just be something to laugh about in half an hour.

ah, if only things were ever so simple. ]


Well. You know what they say, Robbie. You show me yours, I'll show you mine.
calculo: (S E V E N T Y E I G H T)

[personal profile] calculo 2019-06-20 11:57 am (UTC)(link)
You don't wanna see mine.

( but neither of them might have a choice. his fingers curl into fists, digging hard into his palms. )

If I...it something happens, you need to try and get out of here, okay? Promise me you'll try. Don't just sit here and try to save me. That's not possible anymore.