theshimmer | WEEK TWO

WEEK TWO

SECOND WEEK

rules

faq

hiatus/drop

application

taken

profiles

A new day dawns bright as you leave the town behind you; the map you've found is simple, easy to follow, and perhaps most importantly it's the only lead you have.

And besides, it takes you closer to the source of the Shimmer's influence; that alone may make it worthwhile.

The through the woods leading up the mountain is one that seems to have been taken before, though it's difficult to tell how long ago; the long grass seems to have been tamed in some ways, tamped down and trod upon, and the presence of odd flowers remains constant. They seem to obey no season, growing out among the grass and the trees high overhead.

Though it's worth noting that you don't seem to be alone here; occasionally there's a silence that sweeps over the area, the sort of dead quiet that accompanied your initial approach to the Shimmer. The sort of silence that implies a predator in the area.

Checking will reveal exactly that.

It seems as though something has been stalking you - cougars from the woods have come down toward the group, and while they keep their distance for now, that may not hold true for the rest of the week...

You hear things in the night.

It sounds like humans screaming.

SUNDAY | MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY
[OOC: Welcome to the second week of The Shimmer! Unlike the deer and the other wildlife you've seen so far, the cougars that are tracking you are hostile - you are free to interact with them in any way you see fit, but they will react as a cougar would and they are entirely willing to try to attack the group. While we will not be NPCing these encounters, you are welcome to do as you like with regards to their presence, including fighting them off.]

code by vuvuzela

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[The discoveries in the town certainly gave Hanneman quite a bit to think about as they follow the path marked for them. It's definitely a thing that keeps his mind wandering as they hike, and he can seem a bit... lost in his thoughts at times. Not necessarily "walking into trees" levels of distracted, but if you want to speak to him, you might have to tap him on the shoulder...

In any case, during a break sometime shortly after lunch, he reads through his notes... the unreadable ones, anyway. He's trying to determine patterns and see if he can... maybe move towards working out a translation? He might ask for the other materials in the weird code language sooner or later and he's not a linguist by any means, but... he's trying.

Night brings, uh, some nightmarish nonsense! The screams are actually terrifying, and he's outside his tent kind of debating between the bow and the gun, because he definitely isn't going to pretend whatever is making or causing those screams is going to leave them alone.]

...I wonder if we should look into that at all, or if it is simply some sort of trap...

[Oh, good, you're still trying to work on this shit, hopefully you don't mind Kimbley getting up in your business, Hanneman.]

Having any luck?

Not at all, I'm afraid.

[look, he doesn't mind interest in his research! ...he's just bummed he doesn't have anything to actually say here...]

Perhaps if I had done some study of linguistics, I would have more luck, but... unfortunately, I seem to have neglected that end of things...

It's never been my thing, either. I just want to know what I found important enough to write down.

[...]

So how're you doing after all that crap that was found earlier?

[The town was a head trip, man.]

[Hanneman takes a moment to think before responding.]

I would be lying if I said it wasn’t at least a little fascinating, certainly. Terrifying and awful, yes, but it certainly sparks my curiosity to a certain extent.

Though... I will admit that I am also worried for what this all means going forward. The fact that we were not completely informed on what we were getting into is certainly a problem... it’s not a surprise, but it does lead me to wonder what Vitani’s agenda is. I got wrapped up in conversation with others [you know, giving Yeager a free seminar on Crests] so I didn’t speak to her myself, leaving me unable to come to a conclusion based on my personal observations, but surely there is one.

Maybe. It could just be as simple as "wanting us to go ahead with this mission, whether we would have agreed to knowing all the details or not." Sometimes there's more to it, sometimes it's that simple. I wouldn't know, because I didn't have any interest in talking to her.

Yes, I suppose it really could be that simple... honestly, I had no illusions that this wasn’t dangerous, but she certainly made it more so by not providing potentially helpful information.

I suppose we must do what we can with what information we have, though...

[Yeager's got his weapon transformed into the rifle, but he doesn't seem particularly bothered by this. On edge, certainly, but his version of that is still remarkably chill.]

That is definitely a trap of some sort. It's a dreadful idea for us to head out there after it.

[Oh sure, he can understand where people are worried about human screams in the Shimmer, but there's no way he's going to trust anything out there and especially not late at night like this.]

We stay put until morning. We can go investigate then, ja?

Oh, most certainly. That, and... well, I know that there are some animals back home that sound somewhat distressing to human ears, so it may simply be normal for the environment.

It’s still quite awful to listen to even knowing all that, though.

Ja, precisely. There are some monsters back home capable of sounding exactly like people.

[...those aren't monsters but also: yeager doesn't give a damn.]

We need to make sure no one wanders off on their own right now.

...yes, there are similar creatures in my world, as well. I believe they would sound a touch less human, but...

[like, some of them are people!

And some of them stopped being people at some point in the recent past...]

You are correct. I would rather assess things when we have more light and are less open to attack.

Yes. We can handle everything in the morning. For now...

[He considers for a moment before moving to take a seat nearby, gesturing for Hanneman to join him.]

Keep watch with me, ja? It will be easier if there are two of us.

[He doubts Hanneman's going to be getting any sleep anytime soon, so might as well pass the time like this, right?]

Ah, certainly. Two sets of eyes are better than one, of course, and I do feel like we should not discount the idea that whatever is out there will get too daring.

[...and yeah, that’s pretty much correct, he is not going to be getting too much sleep...! So he will go ahead and sit down with Yeager, then.]

It's really hard to say, at this point. It's...it's really frightening, though, isn't it?

[like jesus christ, felicia's seen war and there's never been quite this much SCREAMING IN THE DEAD OF NIGHT going on, what the shit]

I just really, really hope it isn't what it sounds like. If there's survivors out there, and something's happening to them...

[Well. It's obviously bad.]

It certainly isn't at all comforting.

[...He starts to say something, but sighs.]

I hate to say it, but while I know this is a rescue mission... it is better to protect ourselves than go out trying to search in the dark. Perhaps we can look to see if there is any evidence of what happened in the morning.

It really isn't...

[Surely this won't continue, right??? Surely we aren't going to go insane hearing this shit???

...That second bit from Hanneman sees Felicia's eyes widen, briefly and she--well, she has to bite back the immediate response to that, because while such an idea outrages her, it's...]

...I know you're right, but I...I hate the idea of that. What if there's something we could do to help, and we just...don't take it? We should be preventing something like that from coming to pass, shouldn't we?

[...he does look pretty guilty while listening to Felicia's answer, at least.]

...I will admit, I hate it as well, Miss Felicia. It doesn't sit right with me to sit by and do nothing, because, well...

[Sigh.......]

It doesn't really feel like there is a right choice, does it? If we do not investigate, we may leave someone to a gruesome fate. On the other hand... there's enough ambiguity as to what is even going on in the first place that if we investigate and we walk straight into a trap, that would have a fairly decent chance of leaving our companions down one or two people. That, in turn, would reduce their chances of success if our group encountered a more clear-cut situation than this.

[Felicia does listen to Hanneman, at the very least, and...that makes sense to her. She's glad to not be alone in this.]

...No, it really doesn't. It feels like we're caught between a rock and a hard place, doesn't it?

[She at least attempts to ease at that.]

With everything going on like it is, it's easy to feel so...so useless. Helpless, even. We could spend all day here hemming and hawwing over what to do, but that's not going to stop this...

[Aaaand another perfectly timed scream, that gets Felicia to wince. Dear gods.]

Ugh, it's so infuriating.

No, I certainly agree. It certainly does not help that I cannot use abilities I would have been able to use back home, as I imagine they would make things far easier to deal with.

[......granted you can't nuke cougars from half a battlefield away in fog of war........]

You lost your abilities as well...

[If nothing else, Felicia more than understands just what he means. Sure she never really class changed much beyond becoming a maid, but she likes her healing magic and misses it okay.]

...Were you a mage, by any chance?

Ah, yes, I was. I have to say, I am glad some terminology remains consistent between worlds, though I admittedly spent more time making use of my Dark Knight certification by the end of things.

Were you also a mage, then?

Oh, I wasn't sure! You just struck me as the type of person who would practice magic--that's so nice to hear that it's the same thing for you, too. And a Dark Knight...so you used swords and tomes, right?

Not quite, though, for myself! I was usually more of a cleric in battle. In all honesty, I haven't really trained much with black magic...

(no subject)

crestological - 2020-08-05 06:44 (UTC) - Expand

...can you make anything of them?

[Rean has the additional notes he found from the church still, if they'll do Hanneman any good.]

No, unfortunately.

[He shakes his head, looking pretty bummed...]

Perhaps they should have sent a linguist along with us, though I really do have to wonder what they expect us to accomplish here...

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only