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theshimmer2020-07-24 10:07 pm
shimmermods) wrote in theshimmer2020-07-24 10:07 pm
Evacuation.
MISSION START
It's taken a while, but for all intents and purposes, you seem to be back on track; the town you've been sent to investigate isn't far off now. Beyond a crest, just down one of the wooded hills; as you make your way, the strange wildlife watches you. Nothing much. Just one of those deer.
You get the feeling that something always seems to be watching you nowadays. This feeling isn't wrong.
The top of that hillcrest will reveal the town itself, sprawling out below in your line of sight; however, it will soon become obvious that there's something deeply wrong with it. What you're seeing and what you know of the town tell two completely different stories; it's up to you to decide which you believe.
But what your eyes are telling you is that the town is overgrown, the forest reclaiming it for its own – the streets are cracked and broken, grass and shoots of flowers poking up from the roads and the pavement; the ground is thick with fallen leaves, and the buildings seem to have a bright yellow moss growing over them in places. There are residences that seem oddly undisturbed, as though their occupants simply disappeared all at once; given that the town was allegedly evacuated, perhaps that stands to reason.
What doesn't is that this level of growth would take more than a week or two to develop. Maybe you'll find survivors. Maybe you won't. It's worth looking around, either way.
Perhaps it'll be worth your while, in the end.
You get the feeling that something always seems to be watching you nowadays. This feeling isn't wrong.
The top of that hillcrest will reveal the town itself, sprawling out below in your line of sight; however, it will soon become obvious that there's something deeply wrong with it. What you're seeing and what you know of the town tell two completely different stories; it's up to you to decide which you believe.
But what your eyes are telling you is that the town is overgrown, the forest reclaiming it for its own – the streets are cracked and broken, grass and shoots of flowers poking up from the roads and the pavement; the ground is thick with fallen leaves, and the buildings seem to have a bright yellow moss growing over them in places. There are residences that seem oddly undisturbed, as though their occupants simply disappeared all at once; given that the town was allegedly evacuated, perhaps that stands to reason.
What doesn't is that this level of growth would take more than a week or two to develop. Maybe you'll find survivors. Maybe you won't. It's worth looking around, either way.
Perhaps it'll be worth your while, in the end.
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The first sheet is a hand-drawn map, with a rudimentary compass rose the main streets of the town sketched roughly in black ink. A contrasting line in bright blue seems to indicate a road out of town, winding along what's implied to be a path, coming to a stop at a place marked with an X. Following that path, according to the compass, is likely to take you much further up the mountain, and closer to your ultimate goal of dealing with the Shimmer at its source.
The second sheet is a note, written in a shaky hand that seemed to have trouble maintaining control of the pen.
Those of us that remain have gone. We embrace change; you may follow, such that you might know it and understand.
May we remain forever in the light.]
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There's another page of writing here; they seem almost like a sermon that was being prepared, though from the wording it seems the beginning of it isn't there and you're starting on Page Two.
Above all, we must not fear that which has been brought upon us. The will of the Shimmer is absolute, the key to salvation and the herald of fundamental change; those that have gone before went bathed in its saving light. May we join them to be forever in the light; may we
...Unfortunately, from there the shaky handwriting dissolves into something illegible and unreadable - the same sort of writing and symbols all over the notes everyone's been noticing are wrong here.]
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They took to worshiping it, did they? I'm not surprised. [He always seems to get wrapped up in cult activity...] The bit about change is interesting. Was the Shimmer affecting the townsfolk...?
[He considers the rabbit that he came across. The diamonds appearing in its fur, almost as if it was nature... Hm.]
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[This sure is one way to cope with it, though. Believing this to be their salvation.]
Was there anything on the altar itself, Rean?
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[That's. Far worse than what he'd been expecting when he saw more flowers.]
...do you think we can take one back? I told Emma that if we found more unusual plants, we'd get a sample for her.
[That said--]
But yeah, there were some papers on the alter. A hand-drawn map as well as more writing. I think the map will come in handy. There's a location marked on it... something important must be there.
[He'll share what he found so Heinwald can get a look at them too.]
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[At least the body isn't there anymore?? Small comforts...
Anyway, he'll go ahead and look at the notes and map. After going over it, he nods in agreement with Rean's assessment.]
Then we already have our next destination. Good. [He'll hand them back to Rean for safekeeping.] Perhaps those who did not stay behind moved on to this marked location. There may be survivors yet.
[Whether that's a good thing or not is difficult to say, considering what Page informed everyone. But they have an idea of where to go next, and that's the important thing here.]
We should join the others and share what we've learned here.
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[He'll make sure to carefully grab a tree human and the papers he found and head out with the others.]