deercountry | he ate my heart

he ate my heart

AUGUST 2022 EVENT

EXTRA WARNING:

IMAGE DESCRIPTORS IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE
Prompt One
[Image One: The shore line lit up by some sort of bioluminescent organism. ]
[Image Two: A sunken pirate ship covered in algae, seaweed, and suffering from wood rot. ]

Prompt Two
[Image One: A tentacle wrapping around a persons hand. ]
[Image Two: A close up of someone's shoulder which is turning black and cracked and dripping water. ]

Prompt Three
[Image One: A statue of a human face, split in half, with a golden devil mask between the two halves. ]
[Image Two: A number of golden hands reaching up for a white sphere. ]

[NAVIGATION]

Prompt 1 • Prompt 2 • Prompt 3 • Plotting • Newsletter

[JUMP TO COMMENTS]

WE GLOW SO DIM

WHEN: August
WHERE: The Ocean
CONTENT WARNINGS: Deep diving, possible drowning, possible death

Early on in the month, the waves start to have a strange look to them. They seem a little brighter, even at night, and it's then that it hits you: the waves are glowing. It's easy to at first to brush it off as the bioluminescence of certain types of plankton, but the way it moves and sparkles has an other-worldly quality to it that can't be explained by science. Those who look even closer at the glow will notice that it seems to be forming some sort of path into the watery depths.

Those who choose to follow the path despite the angry waves and awful storms that plague the seas this month will find that the ocean seems to be at its calmest along these illuminated, watery roads. Diving down to follow them won't require any equipment, as Sleepers will find that staying within the glowing path allows them to breathe under water when they might normally not have been able to. The pressure changes don't seem to be impacting anyone who follows the light either, allowing them access to deeper depths of the ocean than may have previously been explored.

Continuing to follow the path will lead Sleepers to a series of ship wrecks under the water. These ancient vessels are rotted and covered in seaweed, but anyone who is familiar with the cultures of Earth will notice that they seem to come from all over the world and their styles vary by multiple centuries. But all the ships seem to be covered in this same, strange glow that has brought people here.

Exploring the ships will lead to multiple different discoveries. There are chests filled with ancient artifacts: carvings of squids, statues of various sea creatures that feel a little off somehow, and stones carved with a strange text that is almost impossible to decipher. The artifacts are covered in strange, rust-looking stains that penetrate deep into the materials they're made of. These artifacts can be brought back to shore, and if someone were to try and ask the Trenchies what the writing said, they would only be able to say that these are clearly texts of the Old Ones from long before any recorded history that Trench has in its Archives. When asked about the sea creatures, they'll think it's obvious: these are Mariana's various forms from over the years. The off qualities are her unique takes as a Pthumerian on the creatures of the ocean.

Prolonged exposure to these statues of Mariana will cause people to become more bluntly honest, more open with their emotions, and often much more prone to large outbursts from said emotions, both good and bad. However, Sleepers who keep these statues near them will also find that they are able to keep more control of their blood powers. It's up to each individual if it's a worthy trade off.

If you leave the path, two things can happen: Sleepers will either turn into their squid selves and can continue to swim or they will drown. There will be nothing of interest outside of these paths, just typical ocean creatures, and maybe some of those monsters that have been crawling out of the watery depths as of late.

[JUMP TO TOP] • [JUMP TO COMMENTS]

MONSTER WITHIN

WHEN: August
WHERE: All over
CONTENT WARNINGS: Body horror, mentions of potential cannibalism/vore, possible death, contagious curse

Soon after people start to explore the ships, a strange occurrence will start to sweep through the city. Locals start to mutter something about a curse, one that seems to only be impacting Sleepers. The early signs that there's something off is an increase in strength and stamina. For example, Sleepers will find that they might go to pick up a chair or a mug and it shatters in their hands. Some people may find that they are incapable of sleeping. Others might find they're able to move quicker and for longer periods than normal.

If they look themselves over, they will start to find small patches of skin that have started to gray and blacken. These patches will be cracked, almost scaley, and will be consistently damp no matter how hard you try to dry them off. As time passes, this odd rash will start to spread, taking over more and more of the body. The torso might start to swell and distort, making Sleepers feel particularly top heavy. And eventually, suckers will start to form on the arms and legs.

This curse isn't beasthood in its usual forms; instead, it seems to be some sort of malady in of the magical blood that Sleepers have been granted. If the blood of an infected Sleeper is looked at under a microscope, there will be black patches clinging to the cells, similar to the patches that people see on their skin. If it isn't stopped, the person suffering from the curse will ultimately turn into a monstrous form of their squid-selves: these monster forms are large, aggressive, and able to move on land. They will feel a hunger for destruction and some Sleepers may find in these forms that they are only satisfied if they feed on other, uncursed Sleepers.

There are two ways to lift the curse. One is through a thorough blood transfusion with a blood type that is compatible with your own. This becomes more difficult to do the closer to the monstrous form people get, both due to aggression from the curse, and also due to the fact that the black patches of skin are highly difficult to puncture. Once the blood is completely replaced by fresh blood, the skin patches will disappear over 48 hours and the Sleeper will be left feeling thoroughly exhausted.

The second way to lift the curse is through death. While these monster squid forms are difficult to kill, it is not impossible, and they are particularly susceptible to magic over weapons. Once a Sleeper has died, they can be reborn, and their blood will be completely free of the curse.

The blood malady can be spread outside of those who come into contact with the ship wrecks. People who touch a cursed Sleeper, particularly the scaley patches of skin, will also run the risk of being cursed. It takes roughly a week for the signs of the curse to show, and can spread as slowly or as rapidly as players choose.

[JUMP TO TOP] • [JUMP TO COMMENTS]

LAVISH DESIRES

WHEN: August
WHERE: All over
CONTENT WARNINGS: Personality changes, mental manipulation, hoarding, obsessive anxiety, disassociation, depersonalization

The high waves seem to just be getting higher at the beginning of the month. Rougher and rougher seas start to cause something anyone who's lived around water will be familiar with: flash floods. These floods are large, powerful, and fill the streets of Trench. First-floors of buildings may get extreme damage, though they can be protected with physical and magical barriers if people are smart about it. The floods happen multiple times throughout the month without warning, so it may be good to get that protection built up sooner rather than later.

The after effects of these floods aren't just structural devastation though. People who get caught up in the water, particularly those who end up swallowing it, will have one word echoing in their mind on a regular basis: More.

More of what? That seems to be different for each individual. Maybe one person wants more and more food, anything from an extra slice of cake after dinner, to wanting to stuff themselves until they just might pop. Or maybe they want to hoard all of their favorite objects or pieces of clothing, filling more and more of the space in their homes until they're ready to burst at the seems. Some might find it's their emotions that come in excess, with over the top anger, or irregular excitement that leaves them unable to sleep for days. Anything and everything can come in excess and it certainly seems to be this month. Some people may get these obsessive needs to such a degree that they start to feel disconnected from themselves, fractured by the overabundance that has taken over their lives.

If people ignore these desires, they'll start to find they're plagued by hallucinations. Strong, life-like visions that riddle them with anxiety and leave them petrified of what might happen if they don't partake in this gluttonous behavior. They'll feel shaken to the core and slowly go mad with need and desire for whatever it is they've been craving. This feeling of madness can make them become violent, lashing out at those around them, even killing those who try and help them out of belief that they're trying to force them to give in to their vices.

The impact of the water will wear off either after one week without re-exposure, or by using a Moon Drop to help to cleanse the mind.

[JUMP TO TOP]

CODING

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"Enjoy." If he's gonna drag them to the surface, go for it. There are probably some rope or chains around to make a bundle and drag it to help cart it along the sea. Less trips. Dabi gives one more look around the captain's cabin, then drifts out onto the main deck of the ship again.

"You sure ya wanna know what happened to the rest of the world? Might not be anythin left out there." They were bundled in, encumbered by the forests, and though people have tried to strike out and search, little progress has been made. Well, the outpost that vampire-looking guy made is some beacon way out there...

"Do ship's have an entertainment section? Or a study? Can't just be captain's quarters and the crew's sleeping area." Kitchen, sure, but he rest the villain's not much experienced on. The hold they went through seemed not to have much beyond the statues. Chests of statues.

He'll make use of that chain - more material to use, anyway. It's not going to be an easy drag, but he can do it. He swims out to the edge of the ship for a moment and sticks the bundle into the side of the ship to grab on his way out. He swims back to Dabi and thinks for a moment.

"Well... yeah. Even if there's nothing out there, I want to know what happened. Maybe it'll help us understand our own situation better. I know some people just operate on survival mode, but you can't really do that indefinitely..."

An entertainment section... "Maybe near the crew quarters, up towards the... bow, the front of the ship. That seems the most likely place. It's not going to have a lot, but it's a better place to look besides just floating randomly." There's got to be another section to that deck that they haven't seen.

Heh, not exactly a stupid move, pinning his current collection to the side of the ship. So far nothing's arrived to bother them. No plants, animals, people, monsters. Should be safe to leave it there. But they're only about half done with the ship, so best finish exploring it before abandoning it for the surface to plan on recovery of previously-stashed items.

"Depends on how intensely ya wanna survive." It's true you can't live forever, and Nara'a has a point about learning more of Trench's story. Maybe it would help show them a way to live better, or even escape, but... he doubts any of that'll be buried in a random sunken ship off the coast. Then again... glowing algae points to said ship.

"We ain't floatin randomly," Dabi drones before moving down to "walk" across the deck, preferring that to swimming for the time being. There is indeed a whole different section towards the bow of the ship, above the crew quarters. The doors are barricaded with chains and some debris that crashed into it when the ship sank. Including another skeleton caught between a crate and a cannon.

He huffs a little bit. "I may not look like it, but I've got decent survival skills. I grew up in the wilderness, after all. But surviving and thriving are different things." And he has the intense desire to help everyone around him, so he wants to help make Trench a better place.

He heads along with Dabi, pausing when he spies the chains. Hmm... he starts moving the debris and tries to set it near the edge of the ship. It's going to take some time, but he's not going to be able to move all of this at once. He might be strong, but he doesn't have super strength.

"Anything on this guy?" He gestures to the skeleton. He got the last one, so if Dabi wants anything... there's a knife and pistol in the guy's jacket, along with some scraps of illegible paper and, for some reason, a fork.

"Ya look like ya grew up in a library." With some pricks, but he's seen enough of Nara'a to know the guy's anything but one. Less not saying it out of respect and more cause it'd be stupidly refutable. "People can survive till they die and not try for anythin better than that. Some by choice, some by force."

Dabi looks at the chains and after one or two attempts to help, backs off. He's not really a physical strength person and doesn't feel like winding himself moving debris he can easily walk over. Still pulls a slight face at seeing the skeleton crushed between the cannon and the old crate. That must've been a cruel death...

But he'll pick through the body with zero respect for the dead. Knife and pistol he'll hang onto, the paper and fork he'll pass onto Nara'a because the guy likes books and apparently Dabi decides he could us a fork. Then tests out the knife by actively trying to shove it through the skeleton's neck and... a few... short digs... pops its skull off.

"Gold teeth." That's why. Two of them. He'll have to crush it to get them out. Jaw bones are hard.

"No. I did study with the Thaumaturge's Guild when I got to Ul'dah... it's basically the place you go when you want to learn how to cast giant fireballs or chunks of ice." Though his education only went so far there, and he'd turned to forbidden magicks soon enough. So maybe he's a bit overly ambitious... ah, well.

The fork gets a strange look from Nara'a, and the papers get inspected but ultimately thrown away. He can't read this. He finally opens up the area just enough so that they could squeeze through. He wiggles through and - oh huh. "I found the lock for these chains. Maybe it's one of those on the keychain?" It's worth a try at least.

He peeks back and - oh. Really? He wrinkles his nose but doesn't say anything. Dabi's got a different view of what's important than he does. And while the dead don't have anything particular about them to be respected, it's still rude from his standpoint. But his 'friend' doesn't really care about rude. He wouldn't be the first or the last.

"Thanks for dumbin it down for us mortals," Dabi drones as he focuses on the skull in his hands. He could torch this on the beach, but it would melt the gold along with turning the skull to ash. Best to break it... but doing that underwater with this knife is a dumb idea. He needs something heavier... Dabi sets the skull down on the cannon's surface.

"Oy, come break this with one of those statues." At least he's not asking him to chip it out with the fork. Too bad the papers don't give anything useful. But before they can get to work on the skull, Nara'a finally wedges the debris out from the front of the gallery doorway enough for them to squeeze through. Ah well, they can break it later. Dabi carries the skull with him and approaches the new section of the ship. "Here..." And passes the miqo'te the keychain from earlier.

Lucky them, the keys work and the chains sag across the gallery's double doors. A dull and ominous "ka-clock" sees the door lock open with another key twist and the double panels open up with a push. Spilling into a very spacious area beyond. One side seems to host a kitchen, with tables and kitchen area in the back. The other side appears to be an "entertainment" area, with some low tables, presumably for cards or dice games, and---well well well, two bookshelves full of books. And also, if their eyes are quick enough, a few eel nests within the rotting furniture.

Watch your hands.

He shoulders some more debris out of the way to widen the gap and heads inside. The light from the omni catches the eyes of the eels and Nara'a takes out his rapier. It's probably got the best chance of stabbing things underwater out of the weapons he's got. He walks towards the eel nests and slashes through the ones that try to swim at him, cutting one in half and clipping the other on the tail. It swims away past Dabi, blood trailing in the water.

The miqo'te wanders over to the bookshelf first, because of course. All of the books are warped to some degree, though a few have titles he can faintly make out. One appears to be some kind of map book, and when it's flipped open it seems to be a version of Earth - at least presumably. All the continents are in the wrong place, though it makes no difference to Nara'a. He sets that one aside and looks through the others. There's a few more romance novels, something with a dragon on the cover, and weirdly a book about dog breeds.

"Huh. ... I think this might be the only useful one." He holds up the map book and then tucks it under his arm. "Anything in the kitchen?" Presumably something nice that Dabi's already laid claim to.

Eh, just a tail nick; he lets it go without bothering it. If it were mortally wounded, Dabi likely would've fried it to put it out of its misery. But it should be fine, so long as the blood doesn't attract bigger issues for it. He waves a hand beside him to clear the blood out of the water. Hope that won't do the same for them... Could do without having some shark or sea monster show up to wander around the ship while they explore this section.

"Ya didn't have to kill 'em," he muses as he follows Nara'a inside the galley. "They ain't aggressive towards people unless ya corner them." And they're the ones invading their home, as far as the creatures care. Probably would've swam away without much issue. Dabi glances around the room and heads off to go inspect the kitchen. Might find a knife or something to take back. Himiko would be interested in an underwater knife.

A number of pots and pans are definitely within the kitchen, plenty rusted and corroded, the different metals showing signs of brown rust, green coating, and some near the window even having coral growing on them. There are some impressive heavy duty cast iron skillets... He debates on them. Can't put them in his pouch obviously, but he could bring one or two back. Does he need them? Not... entirely... Trench has pretty decent metalwork.

Dabi leans backwards to look out the hole in the kitchen wall, peering at the map book Nara'a holds up. "That a map of this place or somewhere else?" He's guessing the latter. And vanishes again. "If ya want some cast iron cookware, there's a selection."

"Probably not." He does feel a little bad, but it was his first instinct on seeing a creature that could do him harm. Probably should have tried to just ward it off... he's not confident in using any spells underneath the water - especially not a lightning-based spell. He'd made that mistake before and isn't eager to do it again.

"I think we've got enough cookware, but thanks." Plus, his load is already getting heavy. He can only carry so much back up to the surface. Sure it might not weigh much under here... but it sure will up there. He shakes his head at the question though. "Not unless Trench is somewhere on these maps. I don't know if you can make any sense of it, but it doesn't match any world I've been on."

There's definitely a few knives, and a few bladed weapons that definitely weren't intended to be knives but were clearly used as such. There's also a good selection of spoons more than forks - but judging by the amount of pots in the kitchen the crew probably ate more stew than anything else. Opening a cupboard reveals what looks like a sack that once held food, but there's a hole chewed in it and there's nothing left inside but some sort of black sludge.

"I'm sure even if they can't restore some of the pages the Archives will want these..." Sure, they might be only able to find a few legible pages, but they seem to want basically anything that's written down.

Dabi's ironically the kind of person that would torch a group of thugs and then crouched down in the firelight to pet the cat they were kicking around a few seconds ago. He's not a big animal hugger or softie, but just he isn't one to murder an animal for no reason. Of course, if he brushed the eel off and it looked like it was gonna strike anyways, they yeah, he'd kill it. Dabi's not a nice young man...

"Just offerin." He goes back to the kitchen to scour around. Plenty of things you'd expect a pirate ship kitchen to have, but nothing you couldn't find in probably better quality back in Trench. The age of things, however, means the designs are unique compared to what's found in Trench, but unless you were really gonna blow the "this was a pirate ship treasure" angle, you'd probably get another fork for this fork, for example.

"Back on land." Then he'll look at the map. Probably when it's dried off or something. His attention's drawn to the blade weapons that were only pretending to be knives. That's interesting... But again falls into the same state as the silverware. He scours around until he finds what are probably the top five most unique looking blades/knives in the kitchen, and gathers those. He'll give 'em to Himiko. For no reason just that they're here and so's he. They look like they could use some blood.

Ignoring the sludge. No thanks.

"Gonna bring back all of them?" Dabi emerges from the kitchen and indicates the rest of the books on the shelves.

He shuts the book and tucks it away. "I'm not taking all of these books. I only have so much room." He's sighs and looks at the other books... such a shame. But he can't really do much for them now. He sighs and moves over towards Dabi, curious as to what he's found.

"Besides, they're mostly destroyed. There's no point." He frowns and looks over at the knife stash and shrugs. Not his problem. "I think this is probably about all we're going to find. I don't think there's any more hidden rooms - probably? But we've got a lot of stuff already." Him more than Dabi, but whatever.

There's not much more they can do here, unless they want to dive into some other ships.

"Ain't like this ship's gonna wash away as soon as we get back to shore." Nara'a can always come back and pilfer later. Likely without Dabi's aid unless he makes it worth the other man's while. Figured the miqo'te wasn't done with the potential searching. He's a book kind of person.

"Too bad." It's half-sincere, surprisingly. Dabi's finishing dropping the knives bottom-first into the little pouch he's got. Sure, he may not look like he has as much as Nara'a, but since his booty was small and easily stored in the pouch, that's probably a fair indication as to why he's traveling light in comparison. "Yeah, lets get this shit to shore."

Before something bad happens, like a current brushing the glowing path away. Nara'a still has those statues he wants to lug back to shore with them, so... best get to work on that.

"Yeah." He heads back through the crew quarters and gathers up a few of the statues, then starts heading towards the big hole in the side of the ship to retrieve his weapons. Even if the glowing path goes away he can probably find his way back.

It's not like he needs the algae to breathe underwater anyway. Just have to worry about the monsters in the ocean. So maybe he won't get that many chances... but he sure can try, at least.

"Ready to head back?" He can always come back on his own, grab a few more things that he's left behind. He might have ~~JRPG powers~~ a lot of room normally, but even he can't carry everything. That pouch looks really handy about now... oh well. Not like he's going to get it off of Dabi.

Dabi opts instead to go out on the deck of the ship and look over the side of it. He glances upward, frowning at the crow's nest still sitting high above the tattered sails. Likely nothing up there, but you know... Does he want to bother swimming all the way up there to check? Not exactly...

He's got a good enough haul. (Dabi most certainly needs the algae glow to breathe, thank you. He's not sure he could get to the surface from this far down if it suddenly choked him.) So he's ready to head back.

"Yeah." Ironically, Dabi's moleskin pouch quickly became something he wouldn't trade, and usually doesn't let other people see period. The fact he trusts Nara'a enough to use it around him openly is something the miqo'te should be proud of himself for. With a quick swing through the water, the villain heaves himself over the side of the ship and sinks down slowly towards the glowing ocean floor below.

Nara'a picks up the weapons, easily swinging the blades over his back and shifting the chain to form a sling. He follows Dabi down to the floor and grins at the other man. He's quite pleased with his haul, but he's even happier that Dabi seems to be satified, too.

Or as satisfied as Dabi gets, in any case.

He starts walking back towards the shore, his mental compass pointing the ways. He's got a good sense of direction from wandering so much. "We're going to have a bit of a walk... but at least the place seems clear. I can't see anything on the way yet..." Doesn't mean there won't be anything, but he's always worried about monsters jumping out at them.

He got plenty of things on this haul. Lots of gold and jewels, plenty of trinkets that can be useful in trading, blades and some guns for later use, etc. There's a moment's pause when he debate on adding some chains from the ship, but seeing their weight and the fact they're attached to the cannons and deck, opts to leave them. Best not get too greedy.

Landing on the sand, Dabi follows Nara'a's path along the glowing ribbons of sand. There's some parts that had ebbed away in the current, but it's holding strong or now. "Wasn't anythin on the way here either. The algae seems to keep things from comin into the glow." Perhaps it's due to this path allowing them to breathe underwater that prevents normal sea life from breathing the special "air water" the two are walking in.

The currents seem steady, at least. Nothing too dangerous in the water - nothing that's thrashing and kicking up any strong currents nearby. He still keeps his ears and eyes open, wary of anything that might suddenly strike. "Yeah, it does seem that way. It's a good thing... kind of nice of Trench. For once."

He's not going to complain about Trench doing something nice - best not to look a gift chocobo in the mouth. "You going to make another trip? I'm sure there's other ships out there." He's satisfied with his haul, but he might check some out just in case there's any clues as to where they were from. Maybe he'll even find a ship with things he recognizes.

"Don't tempt it." One might think it juvenile to talk about tempting a place, but considering the "gods" that have a heavy hand in what goes on in the world, it's not remiss to keep those opinions down. Call him cynical and sarcastic, but admitting the place is "nice" for once, is just asking for something to come by and prove you wrong.

"Yeah, but not today. Tomorrow. Gonna be here?" He can find someone else to go, or might end up getting dragged by someone else, but if he's got a steady partner, why not make plans to make it easier on both of them? "Should probably go elsewhere, hit another ship." They probably cleared anything interesting of worth outta the other one.

He huffs in amusement. Dabi's right and he knows it, but it's a little hard to take the 'gods' here seriously. Sure they could be cruel and horrible but... well. He's seen plenty of that in his life already. Still, especially out in the ocean they shouldn't tempt it - not when strange things lurk out there.

"Yeah, I'll be around." It's not like he really has other plans. He might as well take advantage of the clear ocean while he can. "I'm sure there's plenty of places to clear out. I could spot another ship near the one we just hit... wonder if there's any ships from my world." Not that there'd be much of use in all likelihood, but it'd be nice to find one.

Dabi doesn't take them seriously at all. As far as he's concerned, they're enemies and he'll try to kill any of them that show themselves physically long enough to take a shot. But he'll keep those thoughts to himself as he moves along, ready to get out of the water. It's gonna be a wet slog once they get back to the beach.

"I'll be at the Sapling." When he's able to, Dabi uses the happenings around Trench to gather interesting things. So another plunge into the deep for a second ship isn't a bad idea. He nods when Nara'a mentions a second ship. "We can take on the second one." And maybe try their luck with a third later, but who knows how long the algae will last.

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he ate my heart

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