TRAVEL LOG #3: KIDNAPPED CHARACTERS ONLY

[synfluxmods]

THE CHOSEN

CONTENT WARNINGS: cult-like symbols and implications, abduction, cult-like brainwashing.

▶ CASTLE BRAN

The last thing you remember might be speaking to a friend, making merry with a stranger, or enjoying a quiet night against the backlight of the bonfire. Your memories between then and now are a blur—one moment you were in the village, and the next you are here, arising from your slumber and finding yourself in a lavish room with gothic and archaic decor. The windows of the castle are bolted shut so no light goes in and no soul escapes, but candles have been so kindly lit for the captured to find their way. If you can manage to unbolt a window and peek outside, all you will see is a dark fog, obscuring all light and thrusting the castle into an eternal night. The room is old, dark, and eerie, but clean, looking very much lived in and cared for. Within every room, the skull of a wolf has been carefully placed, almost like it oversees the inhabitants.

Welcome to the Castle Bran.

Outsiders, whom attendants within the castle will so reverently refer to as the ‘Chosen’, will find themselves waking up spread across the many rooms of the castle. All their belongings were left behind at the village, and they’ll find that they’ve been cleaned up and dressed carefully in fresh, white linen. Another thing they might notice immediately is that they have been completely stripped of all their powers and weapons, rendering them as strong as any other human.

They are free to roam the many rooms and hallways of the castle but they cannot go any deeper than the ground floor. The attendants of the castle, who appear to be villagers from the town, will follow them and try their best to tend to their every need, be it food, water or a fresh bath. Attempting to question the attendants is a fruitless endeavor: they sing praises of the Lord of the Forest but provide no other useful answers, always diverting the topic back to how wonderful their protector is and how blessed the Outsiders must be to have been chosen by him.

▶ HOSPITALITY TREATMENT

Chosen who try to break their way out of the castle will be hit with a psionic wave, forcing them into a state of calmness, placidity and contentment. They might even be treated to pleasant hallucinations or relive happy memories. There’s no reason to be afraid, after all. The Lord of the Forest will take care of you. Any attempt to hurt or kill the attendants will be met with no resistance from them, almost like they are content to accept their fate. They will then be replaced with another attendant right away, rendering the effort meaningless. The bodies of any dead attendants will be left there to rot until someone complains about it enough, at which point the corpse will be carted off to the dungeons.

At this point, escape seems futile. The dark fog surrounding the castle renders it virtually invisible to the outside world and communications between the Chosen and the Outsiders in the town have been cut off. It may feel like there's nothing you can do but sit pretty and await your fate ...

▶ WE SAVE OURSELVES

After days of strange dreams and curious findings, it seems that help will take some time to arrive. The Chosen will have to save themselves even without their powers. Based on some observations, they may infer that something is cloaking the castle and making it difficult for others to locate it. They have to find a way to disrupt whatever is keeping them hidden.

With each day, they may notice something about the wolf skulls that hang in each room. Every time they look at one, it will trigger their flight response as if they are prey facing off with a predator. Some may feel frightened, anxious, hopeless, or submissive until the skull is out of their sight.

If they can push through those feelings and draw out their fight instinct, they can take the skulls and destroy them. After destroying a skull, a wave of energy will come from it. The energy will give them brief headaches, vertigo, and a short bout of irritability and impulsiveness. Some characters may recognize the feeling as Rift poisoning.

Each time they destroy a skull, the character will receive a microdose of Rift poisoning. Without their LILITH suits to protect them, they can experience extreme poisoning which results in flu like symptoms, mental and physical fatigue, and hallucinations which will make them more vulnerable to the psionic waves. However, with each skull destroyed, the fog around the castle begins to lift ever so slightly. After the air has cleared, the rooms feel safer and less oppressive, making them the perfect place to rest and recover. Unfortunately, if the servants notice, they may replace the destroyed skull with a new one.

▶ AFTERWORD.

Chosen characters may use this log to interact with each other and investigate the situation. It is HIGHLY encouraged to collaborate with other characters and share the clues you have been given.

Everyone who is kidnapped will have their ocular implants turned off, thus rendering communications between Chosen characters and characters who were not captured impossible, and any sort of location tracking will not function. However, certain characters will be given the opportunity to send a short message to the rest of the Outsiders. Players may use this post to have IC discussions about what information they want to provide to the rest of the team. If sending out a message, please submit your message by 11:59 PM GMT on the 10th of October so that mods may post it on the network.

Furthermore, characters can destroy skulls to slowly lift the fog around the castle. The number of skulls they will need to destroy is not specified, but it will lift during the next log.

The purpose of this log is for investigation and collaboration. We understand that players are excited to have terrible things happen to their characters. You can expect that information to be given on the 15th. Timeline-wise, characters will be kidnapped late at night on the 7th and then be freed around the 15th.

EVENT BREAKDOWN/RECAP (CLICK TO EXPAND)

1. CASTLE BRAN: Some Outsiders will awaken to find themselves in a mysterious castle and referred to as 'Chosen' by the castle servants. They are stripped of their belongings and powers, and have been freshly bathed and dressed. They are allowed to wander the castle but cannot leave or go further than the ground floor.

2. HOSPITALITY TREATMENT: Outsiders who try to leave will be hit by a psionic wave that leaves them feeling placid and happy, and may even cause them to hallucinate pleasant events or relive happy memories. Since there is a heavy fog around the castle and communications are cut off, there appears to be no method of escape.

3. WE SAVE OURSELVES: After several days, Outsiders may begin to infer that there is something cloaking the castle and preventing it from being discovered. The source is a multitude of wolf skulls hung up around the castle. Though the skulls induce fear and hopelessness in anyone who looks at it, destroying the skull will cause the fog around the castle to slowly lift. Outsiders who destroy skulls will suffer the effects of Rift poisoning.

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Comments

[nutkick]

Well, I had a fucked up dream ...

[ this shared piece of information seems rather timid in contrast to the others, but denji is visibly unwell— a bit shaken, pale, and he looks a bit paranoid too. whatever it may be, it's getting to his head really bad. right, back to his dream- ]

We were all trying to escape the castle, but some kaijus started attacking us. They kinda look like big bats, and ... they killed everyone, except me. I was saved by another kaiju that looked like a wolf, and then I heard a voice. It told me 'I'm safe now'.

[ but, that wasn't the weird part. denji scowls, as if struggling to explain himself. ]

This might come off as weird, but I haven't been acting like myself. It's like ... something is controlling my feelings?

[ignoreher]

[ bat..... she knew it....... bloodfiends....... gebura is going to be so pissed..... ]

What do you mean? Like they're being influenced, or... they're someone elses?

[nutkick]

[ ah, this is a tough one. denji is trying his best to make sense of it; explaining himself has never been his strong perk. ]

Uhh ... influenced. It's like, they're making me feel something ... forcing it? Maybe?

[ he looks a bit nervous now. ] Am I the only one? Don't you feel weird, too?

[ignoreher]

[ why

is this whole thing more her area of expertise than she wants to deal with!!!!!!! after all, back in l corp...

malkuth will sigh softly, moving to sit closer to denji and take his hand with a comforting smile. ]

I don't, so you're gonna have to answer as best you can. It's okay if it's difficult. What sort of feelings are they? Good, or bad? Objectively.

[nutkick]

[ and— she's good at it.

denji stares down at the way she held his hand, a bit surprised but not in a negative way. eventually, he relaxed a bit, taking a moment to consider his answer. ]

Okay, so ... I was feeling scared the entire day. I don't know what triggered it, but ... I was suddenly too afraid to leave this place, and started thinking that bad things would happen if we did. Falling asleep was hard, and then after the dream ... after hearing that whisper-

[ he glanced at her with a slow shrug. ]

- I'm all good. I'm super happy. I felt safe ... and it was all so forced. I guess I kinda knew I shouldn't be comforted by that voice and yet couldn't stop it.

[ he doesn't understand what is happening, but it's certainly an ominous thought to wonder if someone or something is manipulating their emotions. ]

[ignoreher]

The wolf is no better than the bats, it's just a different kind of predation. The kaiju here are fairly similar to beings known as Abnormalities back in my world, down to the semblance of will and reasoning, and you're all in luck -- I worked closely with them once upon a time, so let me give some thoughts and perspective. Thanks for the info, it was really helpful.

[ denji can have his hand back after a gentle squeeze, malkuth shaking her head and addressing the others as well. ]

What Abnormalities are doesn't matter in this case, but how they act does. We instructed those who interacted with each case to do as per the research gained from others folly, and thus were able to observe Abnormalities who sought to protect others, who sought to use others, and even those who sought to save others.

Much like the wolf in Denji's dreams, there was one such Abnormality who would grace the employees with her care -- protect them, heal them, make them feel special -- and then once she'd become hungry she would allow her smaller kin to feast upon those they'd graced, and from there she would consume them thus. It feels similar to that one -- we're the Chosen, the graced, and the day comes for us to be fed on by this Lord, they won't be taking no for an answer.

[nutkick]

[ there was an inner cry of 'nooooooooo' when she let go of his hand, but other than that— denji kept to himself, lowering his gaze as she explained to the other outsiders her findings, hands settling on his lap. it was a lot easier to leave the heavy investigation on others, as denji isn't the sharpest lad, but something did perk his interest- ]

.... fed on? Are they grooming us to be some sacrifice?

[ considering where he comes from, this sounds very familiar. devils will always demand a proper sacrifice for their services, similar to this 'god'. ]

[ignoreher]

I can't think of any other reason, at least from my own experience. We could even be subjected to different years of this if they wanted to ensure prosperity in the future -- but we'll make it as difficult as we can for them, won't we?

[ hell if anyone is sacrificing HER she's died already she's not dying again!!!! ]

[likemybooks]

So, we're also to look for giant bats? [He glances at the doorway nervously.] At least we know for certain this "god" is a wolf, and judging by these skulls everywhere, there are smaller wolves it's working with.

[nutkick]

[ after hearing malkuth's explanation, denji considers a new theory: ] It sounds more like a devil. It's very common for them to demand human sacrifices for their favors. I'm not sure what they're getting in return, though. This place is hella shitty ...

[ damn, couldn't they ask for a nicer castle ... ]

[likemybooks]

They aren't attacked by bats, or whatever was going on here earlier. Maybe they just wanted food and a place to stay considering... [He tilts his head towards the wall, where he assumes the outside world is rest on the opposite side.] Things are pretty terrible out in the rest of the world. And the village isn't bad! It's rather quaint. It feels like home.

[ignoreher]

I agree. People who've lived in danger their whole lives wouldn't hesitate to throw their lot in with something dubious, especially if it meant that them and theirs could be safe -- even if the consequence was sacrificing something in return. They might've had to do their own before we arrived, but... I'm sure they considered it an honor, before things changed with the ones we've read about.

[ it's just. people want to live, not die. so the rebellion and hope of escape is natural in her eyes. ]

[gimu]

[ choso listens. as denji speaks and malkuth joins him, choso listens, a weird gargoyle in linen whites taking in all what the outsiders have to offer. eventually, he leans in. ]

What did the voice sound like?

[nutkick]

[ ah, interesting question. now that he thinks about it, he's not even sure whether it sounded like a female or male, or maybe it didn't matter at that moment. however- ]

It was comforting ... it sounds like someone you could trust.

[gimu]

Comforting… that’s creepy on its own.

Maybe you’ve been cursed.

[ignoreher]

[ smacking his arm ]

Don't scare him! He's been through enough, Choso!

[gimu]

[ agh! he can actually feel that, a tiny stinging area about the size of malkuth’s tiny palm. ]

Not cursed. Not at all cursed.

[ignoreher]

[ good. she's keeping an eye on you, tactless wonder. hand ready. ]

[nutkick]

[ he's not scared but please smack him again .... ]

[nutkick]

I'm not surprised...

[ have you seen his life? it's pure shit. ]