deercountry | [Open] Keep it locked up, keep it sealed tight

Who: Varian and YOU!
What: Varian's final corrupted days, his beasthood turn and the aftermath. See his corruption/monster page HERE!
When: First 2 weeks of Jan- before the event.
Where: Around the city!

Content Warnings: Applicable content warnings go here. Mentions of death, corruption, dissociation.

Hope you've stocked up - Last days of corruption

Anyone who's close to Varian will have noticed his slow corruption growth over the last two months. By the time January rolls around, things have gotten worse instead of better. By now his skin is made of a thick, black rock. This same black rock has turned his teeth into sharp fangs and his nails into claws. two amber horns sprout out from his head, and his elbows and one remaining ankle have spurs of the same stuff- as is the tail he's since gotten, flicking nervously as he paces around- firey red eyes darting around furtively.

He'd largely been keeping himself out of sight, trying to handle this alone, but his hallucinations have driven him onwards. He stares at things seemingly only he can see. If he comes across you, he'll grip your arm tightly (sorry if those claws hurt, he's not even thinking about it). He points at an empty spot of nothing, worry on his face.

"Eugene!" you are definitely not Eugene, but it's clear that's who he's seeing right now. "We- we gotta deal with these rocks before they take over everything! There's...there's got to be a cavern around here somewhere so we can cut them off, right?"

It's a long night - Monsterdom (Gaze and surrounding area)

Regardless of how much or how little help he gets in his final days of corruption, eventually, Fern decides enough is enough and the best way to handle this is to Fistfight God. Which is to say, he goes off to confront The Tower about this and gets himself killed by Never Mind in the process. Varian got there too late, and being the driving reason behind his boyfriend dying again was the final nail in the coffin for him.

The transformation is quick and sharp, and what's left is a a ten-foot rock monster spewing fire everywhere. His leg is still missing in this form, at least, which should help anyone with a quick ID-check. Varian himself rages through the city, slamming against buildings and breathing fire at anyone foolish enough to come close. It's definitely attracting the attention of nearby hunters- so perhaps finding a way to talk him back down before there's another death today would be for the best?

Nothing good is meant to stay - Aftermath

Eventually, Varian lets his friends in, lets them talk him down and the best hood fades. Parts of corruption still cling to him- his skin is still an unhealthy grey colour and his nails aren't quite back to normal yet. He's also sitting in a ball on the floor- partly out of shock and partly because he can't go anywhere without his leg - if someone could fetch him that, that would be awesome.

Or perhaps you come to him in the days that follow. He mostly stays near the Disaster House in Cassandra, as he waits for Fern to come back to life. He can be found inside the house, or sometimes sitting on the front porch, people-watching. Though he's certainly not better yet, day by day the signs of corruption lessen. Any visitors will get a tired smile, he's still a little withdrawn, but he's getting there.

"H-hey, thanks for checking in," nothing has changed how awkward he is at least! "Um...how are you doing?"

Because obviously, you're here for him to check up on you. Obviously.

[[OOC: The monster battle is intended to be open to any CR who want to take part. No ONE character will be responsible for talking him down from monsterdom, it is intended to be a team effort- hammering home that Varian is able to rely on his support network. Feel free to make separate threads, team up with other players, thread hop, etc. Do what you like, and we can wibbly-wobbly-timey-wimey it so it happened around the same time- to make it easier than players trying to keep to one concurrent thread! Go nuts! As always please hit me up on

teeeff for anything! ]]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[It's hard to tell if the monster recognises him or not. Varian doesn't attack him outright, unlike the hunters who keep circling him, uneasy by his presence- wanting this threat snuffed out quickly. He growls, low and warning, his tail sweeping back and forth, smacking against buildings as fir burns in his eyes.

Maul is absolutely right, of course- but right now Varian doesn't seem to acknowledge that fact at all. ]

[Well, the monster seems to recognize him on some level, so that's good. Maybe he can talk the boy down, if not back into full human form then at least into a partially corrupted state.]

Don't make me have to fight you to get you to snap out of this state.

[Maul takes no pleasure in knowing he might have to injure his young friend in order to get through to him. He's causing a lot of destruction and people will end up hurt if he continues like this.]

[Varian snarls- it's hard to tell if it's from understanding what Maul is saying to him or if it's a reaction to the hunters still milling about, jostling one another - daring to make another strike against the monster in their midst. One does eventually break rank, hucking a spear at Varian.

It bounces off his hide, but he still breathes a blast of fire at them, scattering them again. ]

[Maul watches Varian closely, trying to gauge the mood of the beast that had once been a dear friend. He's debating whether or not he should fight him when he spews fire, causing Maul to flip out of the way and land back on his feet some distance away.

He glares at the hunters who are still intent on taking down the monster swiftly. This clearly isn't helping.]

Come on, Varian. Remember who you are. You always tell me how many people there are who care about me and want to do the right thing. What about yourself? Don't you think you have the exact same thing in your life?

[It's hard to tell if Maul's words are getting through or not. He does still when the hunter back away from the fire, growling low and lashing his tail- almost as if he's listening. His mind is still a swirl of anger- what there is of Varian himself is buried deep, deep inside.

He seems to have had his fill of the hunters, though and starts to amble his way further into the city, craggy body scraping on buildings as he goes- the hunters starting to take chase. ]

[Maul sighs when the Varian monster turns and starts to go off further into the city. Dammit, this is just what he didn't want to happen!

Well, if anyone is going to be the one to deal with his nephew, it is going to be him. He's already used to making hard decisions, so what's one more on top of everything else? He runs after the other hunters and ignites his saberstaff as he goes. He's quick to catch up, and coming from behind, he leaps up, trying to plunge his lightsaber into the beast's hindquarters.]

[Well. If Maul wanted his attention, he definitely got it. The rocky skin is hard to break into- it's like solid, igneous rock. Perhaps if it had been anything but a lightsaber, he wouldn't have got through at all, but as is, with a little force, it sinks into the rocky hide to whatever's underneath.

Varian howls in anger and pain, stumbling and crashing to the ground- he only has the one back leg after all. His tail lashes out as he tries to gain traction, to pull himself back to his feet all the time snarling and trying to snap at the person on his back. ]

[Well, at least that had worked, so Maul knew at least the hide wasn't completely impenetrable. He stays on Varian long enough to watch the beast go down, but when the tail starts swiping and he tries to get back up he leaps back off of him, landing on his feet some distance away.

He turns to face the monster again, pointing his lightsaber at him.]

Don't make me destroy you.

[He warns. Much as Maul doesn't want to, he knows he might have to be this one to make the call. As he's said before, when it comes to the deaths of the Sleepers, if someone has to make the hard choice it might as well as be him given how well-versed he is in death.]

[It definitely wouldn't be the first time Maul put him down- though this would be far more justified this time, in all honesty. Varian snarls and he finally finds his feet again, staying low like a cat stalking prey. But he doesn't attack, a low, rumbling growl echoing out of his chest. What looks like molten magma drips out of the wound the lightsaber has given him, and he definitely seems to be struggling to stay on his feet now his one back leg is injured.

So for the moment, he stares at Maul, still growling, but not attacking. ]

[Maul stays at the ready, his lightsaber ignited and held in a defensive position, but he doesn't press the advantage he has over the monster right now. He's still not sure if it would be better to kill the beast or try to talk him down. He'll try the latter one more time.

This time, he goes straight for the things that he knows mean a lot to Varian.]

I love you like you're my own family. I don't say that often but it's true. And you've helped me so much along the path I keep walking, slow and steady in the dark. You're a good person and you don't need to be like this. You can come back if you want.

[Open] Keep it locked up, keep it sealed tight

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