𝚂𝚢𝚗𝚏𝚕𝚞𝚡 𝙻𝚘𝚐𝚜

▷ STRANGER FROM THE RIFT: FINALE

The city continues to glitch out and the various factions are still abuzz as they try to track down LILITH's mark. Daily life is thrown off and tensions begin to run high. LILITH urges the Outsiders to follow the various reports popping up around the city and try to track down Bjorn.

Eventually, they catch a break. A recent pattern in witness reports suggests Bjorn is moving towards the bay. The Outsiders will have to make their way towards the sea. The scale of their movement will tip off the different factions in the city so they'll have to subdue them to ensure the upcoming battle goes without interruption. Furthermore, since it seems that their confrontation will take place near the sea, they'll have to evacuate the locals in the area ahead of it.

However, on Valentine's Day, something shifts in the air. Suddenly, the air becomes unbearably heavy and dangerous to be in as the air becomes saturated with Rift energy. It happens without warning and their plans will be forced to shift gears. They need to urgently evacuate the civilians, many who now have difficulty moving due to severe Rift poisoning.

The civilians are confrontational, prone to mood swings, and may fight back against them. Due to the electronic glitches in the city, they might experience a surge in electrical activity that scrambles the Outsiders's oculars, resulting in piercing headaches and more hallucinations. However, they are ordinary civilians so they can't control this random power and it appears that each use causes them pain. Removing them from the Rift-affected area seems to calm down the effects and LILITH provides tranquilizers that can be used to disarm them if necessary. They are also provided with antidotes to administer to the most severely affected. Fortunately, the clinics and hospitals located around the perimeter are prepared to take in the civilians and treat them if they are brought to their doors.

The Outsiders will also encounter some of the gangs who are still trying to catch Bjorn for personal gain. While many of them are ordinary thugs that are affected like the rest of the civilians, there are also some who boast being former military or ex-mercenaries. These folks appear to have more resistance to the Rift poisoning but the longer they stay in the environment, the more effects they take on. Eventually, some of them may begin to corrupt into reptile-like kaiju hybrids. They will attack Outsiders with ice, water, or poison attacks.

Outsiders can choose to use their limited antidotes on these thugs but bear in mind there are also civilians and each other to look out for. They still have not found Bjorn either but it won't take long until they find him. How Outsiders use the antidotes is up to them.

Everything can eventually be triangulated to a warehouse district near the sea. The Outsiders will have to navigate a labyrinth of cargo containers to find Bjorn. LILITH authorizes the right to open up containers in case he is hiding inside of them. By doing so, Outsiders can find all sorts of goods– legal and illegal. What they choose to do with their finds is up to them as long as LILITH doesn't find out. With the oculars glitching out, it's not like they're being tracked or watched effectively, right? Drugs, highly advanced weaponry, various technology... feel free to have your character find anything you'd like.

While searching the containers, Outsiders may run into shipyard robots that continue to move boxes and operate different machinery. They may also find some civilian harbor workers who haven't evacuated yet. They may be experiencing Rift poisoning or bear injuries from a physical attack. When asked what caused these injuries, they'll yell that they were attacked by a small kaiju.

It won't take long to find some of the possible attackers. There are corrupted kaiju-hybrids prowling about. Some of them appear to be Rift-corrupted thugs but others might have escaped from cargo holds. They jump out from behind corners or from atop stacks of containers. They can attack at any moment so the Outsiders will have to be on their guard.

Eventually, the Outsiders will finally find Bjorn. He is in a poor state, clearly confused, and appears to be suffering from severe Rift poisoning himself. He rambles incoherent nonsense and if the Outsiders try to approach him, he attacks with a blast of Rift energy that can knock them back and even poison them if they take a direct hit. He speaks, and the oculars finally translate from Old Norse:

HELP. . . . ME. . . . AM LOST.

His eyes glow ominously blue and he lets out an inhuman roar. Everything around them begins to shake like a powerful earthquake is hitting. It's difficult to keep their balance and suddenly...

The ground beneath them gives beneath their feet.

Everything around them becomes dark and it feels like they are being plunged into an ice bath. However, instead of floating or having any sort of buoyancy, they are dragged down by a powerful current that pulls them deeper, deeper, and deeper.

If they look around them, they'll see a seemingly endless darkness as they fall but scattered throughout, there are random things– boulders, doors, cement blocks, twisted signs, and what appears to be broken debris. Be careful as you fall– you wouldn't want to hit any of these objects falling at your speed. The number of objects increases and grows in size the closer they get to the bottom. They will see the hulls of ships, broken masts, scattered cargo, and the skeletal remains of some large animal.

They might also catch a glimpse of Bjorn falling with them. As they fall, his body twists and begins to change. He lets out feral, mad sounds and his features become less humanlike and more monstrous. Finally, as if his body is torn apart by some great force, he transforms into something and disappears into the abyss.

Gradually, their speed slows until they touch solid ground and that's when everything hits them. Their bodies will feel very heavy at first, as if they're beginning to catch a bad case of the flu. It's like they can feel their bodies trying to fight something off and it will give them fatigue, body aches, and brain fog. These effects are short-lived, however. It washes away like a wave and while they may feel a little disoriented, they will be largely fine.

Looking around them, it will look like they're at the bottom of the sea. All around them are the remains of sunken ships in various stages of destruction. There are also massive whalefall-like skeletal structures. These are no ordinary animal remains. They are the remains of kaiju that have sunk to the bottom of an abysmal Rift sea.

Are they swimming? Or are they standing? It's something in between. Their bodies move lightly, as if gravity works differently down here but they are still being kept down by some heavy pressure from above. They can breathe fine, but the air they inhale feels weighted. There isn't much time to explore in the abyss because from above, a great serpent appears with glowing blue eyes.

Arm yourselves, Angels of LILITH. BJÖRN THE FEARLESS has arrived.

It is an intense fight beneath the water's surface; a surreal world where physics don't make sense. Weapons and attacks that use elements are unaffected, so are projectile weapons. It's too hectic to question the if's and what's.
The Outsiders work well together despite the trials they face. Denji & Raidou become frozen in the fight; Vash, Choso, Muramasa, Yugamu have been poisoned by an otherworldly serpent bite and need assistance. Those who have hallucinations, temporary paralysis, temporary memory loss.. it could be hours or days before they recover. Those with Berserker rage will be subdued once the fight is over, but could be irritable for hours or days. Hatsutori releases a Berserker heat beam blast that hits heavy; maybe it will thaw out those who are frozen! Toji uses his split soul katana, slicing deep within the kaiju's neck for another heavy hit. The fight goes on, but eventually...

Bjorn sinks down to the bottom of the sea-like Rift. As he falls, his scales begin to melt away to dust. His form shrinks, and unlike kaiju in the past that have completely turned to ash, he turns back into human, weakened and expecting a final blow. Tsurumaru approaches him, and with a lift of his sword... he stabs the sand next to Bjorn, offering him a hand up.

BJÖRN THE FEARLESS HAS BEEN SPARED.

The atmosphere in the rift begins to change and while it is still heavy and dangerous, it feels lighter than it was before. The pressure begins to lessen and the Outsiders will begin to feel themselves floating up to what can only be described as the "surface" for lack of a better word. It is a slow process though, so there is still some time to explore the Rift sea.

Besides the sunken ships and kaiju remains, they can also find what appears to be manmade structures. There are marble columns lying on their sides and broken statues from various countries of origin. They can also find the remains of old houses from a bygone era mixed with modern ones, all in states of total disrepair. Someone may even find a twisted oil rig or airplane in the ruins. It seems like there is something down here from not just around the world but also across time.

Suddenly, the ground begins to shake like it did back at the warehouse district. They must get back to the surface quickly before they fall even deeper into the Rift. Fortunately, it should be easier to "float" back to the "surface." It gets easier the higher up they go and eventually, they'll see a "ceiling" above them with shimmering, colorful lights like stars above them.

Once they break through the surface, they'll find themselves in the middle of Tokyo Bay. It looks like those lights were the neon colors of Neo Tokyo. The coastguard has ships already deployed to try and recover them. They'll toss lifevests and sea rings while deploying inflatable rafts to help them until they can be pulled out of the water.

When they are finally safe and sound aboard the coast guard ships, they can catch their breath. Those who look into the dark water below them will see only still darkness. LILITH reports that a Rift had emerged in this exact area but is now mostly sealed up. They'll want a full report later but for now, it's best to get back to shore and rest.

With the Rift mostly sealed up and the citizens once again celebrating their relief at LILITH and the Outsiders doing their part to protect the average citizen, the outpouring of love and devotion begins.

It's all thanks to the Outsiders that they are saved once again and can return to their normal lives. The glitches and hallucinations that had plagued the city the entire month are no longer a problem for most. Some still experience some lingering effects but it's nothing that a quick security upgrade and some troubleshooting can't fix. By the end of the month, everyone will really be back to normal.

In the meantime, Outsiders might begin to find letters, parcels and gifts left outside the base. They range in size, type and expense, with each Outsider having a solid base of fanatics who want to thank them for their hard work. The unluckier of Outsiders might find that some of their fan mail leans towards the obsessive, while others will have pictures drawn in children’s hand thanking them for their hard work and saving them.

The caretakers in the base do their best to deliver each gift to their proper destination, but you might end up being one of the few who accidentally gets a gift that’s meant for someone else. Hopefully, you know all your fellow Outsider’s codenames, otherwise it might be a guessing game trying to figure out who it belongs to and return it… Or you could just keep it for yourself. Who’s going to know?

Every single Outsider also received a card from LILITH themselves, with someone clearly putting a lot of effort into making them. They’re all personalised, at least, and come with a handful of chocolates in various cute animal shapes. Eating these chocolates may leave some Outsiders desperate for a little more human connection, seeking out their nearest and dearest to share their sweeter emotions.

Welcome to the conclusion to our February event! Just as with January, this event is relevant to the overarching plot. We hope you enjoy it! Thank you all for casting your vote and choosing to spare Bjorn. We were not expecting to have players vote and assumed one person would be deciding what to do, but we loved this idea. More about his outcome and how he will effect the plot will be seen in future posts.

All tags on this log are worth 2 points and will count towards February AC.

EVENT BREAKDOWN/RECAP (CLICK TO EXPAND)

1. ROMANTIC WALKS BY THE BEACH: Bjorn is missing still, and he has been spotted heading towards the water. However, heavy rift energy follows his every path, affecting bystanders and citizens and halfway transforming their bodies. Rescue them or pursue the target. There are also gangs trying to capture Bjorn for their own personal gain. Protect him so he can be captured or defeated!
2. VALENTINE'S DAY SHIPPING!: Bjorn is found in a shipping warehouse near the bay. Drugs, weapons and other illegal and legal items can be found, free for the taking. Bjorn announces that he needs help, but beneath everyone's feet, the ground shakes, and everyone falls below... they fall through a rift.
3. THROUGH THE EARTH: Falling down, down, down... into a surreal sea where common physics don't make sense. Possibly a mythical world that has items from all around the world and all different eras. The battle begins beneath the sea!
4. KAIJU FALL: The fight against Bjorn is successful, and he is spared for further evaluating. The Outsiders surface in the Tokyo Bay and are rescued.
5. TO OUR HEROES XOXO: Back at base, Outsiders are adorned with gifts and letters, some obsessive, from happy citizens. Rest and recover once again.