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Thread: Demon Attack IC

  1. - Top - End - #1
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    AssassinGuy

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    Default Demon Attack IC

    OOC Thread: https://forums.giantitp.com/showthre...OOC&p=24894368

    INTRO

    It's a normal market day. You're moving along, shopping or working a stall or chatting with your friends.
    And then, between one heartbeat and the next, something is wrong.

    It's nothing like the stories (everyone's heard the stories, told in whispers on stormy nights).

    What you're seeing doesn't change.
    The sky doesn't bleed to black or blood-red. Colors don't fade to greys. The shadows don't turn harsh and strange and alien.
    But something is horribly wrong.

    What you're hearing doesn't change.
    The sounds of the market don't become muted. There isn't a sudden ringing in your ears, or the sound of sobbing, or screams.
    But something is terribly, terribly wrong.

    It's nothing like the stories.
    The world is exactly the same as it was a moment ago.
    Except something is wrong, something makes you want to shut your eyes, to press your hands over your ears, to curl into a ball and shut out the world.
    It's nothing like the stories (it's everything like the stories).

    A shock runs through the crowd, conversations stopping mid-word, a moment of silence descending.
    But no-one wants to believe.
    Even though something is still dreadfully wrong.
    People start looking around, even a few sheepish smiles coming out.

    And then every animal in the market goes crazy at once.
    Dogs bark, cats hiss and arch, horses rear and scream.
    That part IS in the stories.

    Someone shouts "DEMON!"
    And...
    Last edited by sean_hyer; 2021-01-21 at 04:42 PM.
    Quote Originally Posted by Vixsor Lumin
    ..... that was the coolest way I've ever seen some one ask for permission to betray everything.

  2. - Top - End - #2
    Titan in the Playground
     
    WindStruck's Avatar

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    Default Re: Demon Attack IC

    Annabelle was in the market trying to sell her flowers, like she normally did. All she really had was an old, chipped vase. Inside it were some flowers she had picked this morning in the fields outside of town and some water to place their stems in. At least the flowers were pretty, though they seemed a bit wilted for this time of the day... Well, it was a hot day, after all.

    It wasn't much, but at least it wasn't completely begging. You'd be surprised how often a husband wanted to show his affection for his wife or a young buck show his admiration for a pretty lass in a prosperous town such as this.

    Still, something really wasn't right. The most horrible sense of dread had overcome Annabelle, and it seemed everyone else in the market felt perturbed or worried about something too.

    Then suddenly, the animals went crazy! The domestic ones seemed to stick around for now, making a huge ruckus, but all the wild ones like pigeons and feral doves immediately flew away in a mass exodus to the skies, a cacophony of panicked chirping and flapping.

    Then someone shouted "Demon!".

    Annabelle had felt even more tense now, probably the most scared she had ever been in her life. And she didn't even know what was scaring her! A .. demon? She hardly even knew what that was! She had heard of them, but.. it was the same as fairies or monsters to her. As this person shouted, she looked not quite in the direction of their voice, but rather, in the opposite direction from where the birds were fleeing. Everywhere in the sky they could be seen, flying away from the town hall.

    Annabelle didn't realize it, but she had been holding her breath for some time.
    Last edited by WindStruck; 2021-01-22 at 01:07 AM.
    Avatar by linklele!

  3. - Top - End - #3
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    RedSorcererGirl

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    Default Re: Demon Attack IC

    Antanius' day started a little bad, and as he always says, "if a day starts bad it only gets worse".

    He hadn't sold a single good luck charm yet, and not even his famous Eastern Steppe Potions of Asinine Love Potency(tm) (which always guarantee decent income, sold near the brothels) were doing anything good today. Good for his pocket, he meant...generally speaking they were little more than dirty water...but it doesn't matter, he was selling "the dream", "the story".

    He was good at that, but not today. Somehow, he felt a bit off, scared even... the same sensation when his alchemy mentor was questioning him about his knowledge and he didn't know ****, as usual...
    Gaining knowledge had never been his forte anyway; pretending to have one, and selling it...that was more of his thing.

    He was reasoning this until all the animals went crazy, including the mule dragging his chariot.
    The sensation now developed into something more concrete, painful even... a burning sensation on his skin...localized on his chest. All of a sudden he realized the cause of it. He was wearing a runic charm, that he had won playing dice somewhere. He was no cultist, but he knew enough to know that the charm was antique, and supposed to cast evil away. Well, it was burning hot now.

    Something was coming. Something that small charm could not protect him from. He needed to RUN!!
    He noticed that the charm became hotter when pointed in a specific direction.
    Ok, easy...so all he needed to do is run in the opposite direction.
    He quickly packed the few alchemic compounds in his merchandise that actually did something (some burning Stinkstone, some Flashpowder, other pyric compounds) and he ran, towards the direction where the rune was not heating.
    He prayed he would be fast enough.
    Of course you should fight fire with fire. You should fight EVERYTHING with fire!
    Jaya Ballard - Task Mage ™

  4. - Top - End - #4
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    AssassinGuy

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    Default Re: Demon Attack IC

    In a moment, the market square goes wild. People are scared. They want to run. But they don't know to where.

    A few souls make a dash out of the square ahead of the milling crowd.

    "Look at the birds!"

    The shout begins somewhere in the square, and is then repeated over and over. The birds are flying away in all directions, not all fleeing in one. Which means that, whatever is coming, it is almost HERE. Which means, well, time to run.

    In a moment, the quiet desperation of the crowd turns to noisy panic as they flee in all directions - out the gate, or along the paths to the south and east. In moments, the centre of the market is all but deserted, while the exits are jammed with carts and and bodies.

    Left in the square are mostly children - too frightened to run, standing frozen in place or trying to hide wherever they can - and a handful of parents.

    There are more children left behind than there should be. Perhaps some came to the market unsupervised to play. (Or perhaps some parents left them behind).

    Spoiler: Anabelle
    Show
    If you're still standing in confusion / panic in a minute, some frantic but determined mother who's already collected her kid is going to try to get you out of there too.
    If you want to use this as a hook, you can either make up your own, or you can use Heather and her daughter Vala.


    Spoiler: Antanius
    Show
    Depending on which wagon was yours, you could really have run towards any of the exits. I'm assuming you left ahead of the rush, so you're clear of the square before the crowd jams the exits.
    If you want to stay closer to the action: your character noticed that the rune cooled down when he got close to the church. Something about it shields you from evil.
    If you'd rather be out of the square, feel free.
    Quote Originally Posted by Vixsor Lumin
    ..... that was the coolest way I've ever seen some one ask for permission to betray everything.

  5. - Top - End - #5
    Titan in the Playground
     
    WindStruck's Avatar

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    Default Re: Demon Attack IC

    Annabelle, so confused at first, winds up dropping her vase as the panic sets into everyone. She lags behind on her small legs but for now the masses of people are getting stuck between the stalls and exits.

    She crawls underneath a table of a tent-like stall, intent on just squirming her way through the back end of the flaps. Before she actually passes through, she spares a haphazard glance behind her.
    Avatar by linklele!

  6. - Top - End - #6
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    AssassinGuy

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    Default Re: Demon Attack IC

    The door to the Town Hall isn't anything fancy, not like a big-city toff's house. No wrought iron, or silver filigree, or graven marble.

    But it IS carved from a single log of good, solid oak. Two inches thick and sturdy as houses.

    Or at least, it was five minutes ago. Now it's warping, cracking, dust trickling down as the door disintegrates before your eyes. (Briefly, you wonder why whatever is inside isn't just opening the door. It isn't as if it's kept locked.)

    Spoiler
    Show
    If you keep watching after the door finishes crumbling (in another minute or so), you'll see the demon in the doorway. It appears as described in the prologue: a hooded cloak, which appears to be held up by a body but there is nothing visible under the cloak).
    Quote Originally Posted by Vixsor Lumin
    ..... that was the coolest way I've ever seen some one ask for permission to betray everything.

  7. - Top - End - #7
    Titan in the Playground
     
    WindStruck's Avatar

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    Default Re: Demon Attack IC

    Anabelle vaguely sees the door to the town hall coming apart, disintegrating.. whatever it was, it was in there and it was coming out!

    She just couldn't stay to see it. Everyone else was fleeing anyway!

    She turned back and lifted up the tent flap, crawling underneath and behind it.
    Avatar by linklele!

  8. - Top - End - #8
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    RedSorcererGirl

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    Default Re: Demon Attack IC

    Antanius though for a second to run for the exit, but he dismissed that idea quickly. Everybody was rushing in there in panic, and escaping the threat only to die in a stampede would have been quite anti-climatic.
    Besides, he noticed that towards the church, the runic charm was getting colder. It made sense.

    He was quickly moving towards the church when he noticed that there were several children left in the square, abandoned and frozen in horror.

    Now, was Antanius a hero? a warrior? a brave man? or even anything else than a coward and a fraud?
    No, he wasn't.
    Was he willing to leave those children to face whatever horror was coming all alone?
    No, he wasn't !!

    So, murmuring an apology to his groaning sense of survival, he hasted BACK to the square where the kids were an shouted "Kids, come, to the church! It's safer !! Move! Hold hands with each other and MOVE".

    Meanwhile, almost without thinking, he pulled out some vials from his pockets, and started mixing some components.
    Of course you should fight fire with fire. You should fight EVERYTHING with fire!
    Jaya Ballard - Task Mage ™

  9. - Top - End - #9
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    AssassinGuy

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    Default Re: Demon Attack IC

    Spoiler: Antanius
    Show
    As you turn away from the church, the doors swing open and a young man in a cassock spills out the doors. He flinches for a moment as he leaves the protection of the building, but hurries towards you anyway.
    "I heard the screams! How can I help?"

    Meanwhile, the closer children are shaking off their fear to run towards Antanius, but his voice doesn't carry far above the roar of the crowd.



    Spoiler: Anabelle
    Show
    Anabelle isn't the only one who's chosen this particular hiding spot. As she squirms into the tent, she sees another girl crouched on the ground, face white with fear. Her eyes flick towards you as you crawl under the fabric, but she relaxes when she sees you're just another kid.
    "What do we do??"
    A distant shout drifts into the tent: "Kids....church.....MOVE."
    Quote Originally Posted by Vixsor Lumin
    ..... that was the coolest way I've ever seen some one ask for permission to betray everything.

  10. - Top - End - #10
    Titan in the Playground
     
    WindStruck's Avatar

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    Default Re: Demon Attack IC

    Anabelle looks at the other child. "I.. I don't.."

    When she hears the shouting about the church, maybe that was actually a grand idea!

    "C'mon!"

    Anabelle continues pressing past the tent flaps and out the other side. Now that they were outside the market proper and had avoided squeezing through gaps like many other people were trying to do, it was a relatively easy straight shot to the church.
    Avatar by linklele!

  11. - Top - End - #11
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    RedSorcererGirl

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    Default Re: Demon Attack IC

    The priest asked 'how can I help?'

    right.... good question, how? and against what exactly? Antanius didn't have a clue... but at least, there was a pressing task at hand, something CONCRETE to do before that thing came.

    'Please, help me guide these children to the church, but stay protected. They should be safer there, from...' ... right, from what? he couldn't finish the sentence, and was silently hoping that the church guy could complete it for him.

    He noticed that one of the children, a little girl, seemed to have some traction towards the other kids. Maybe, if the little girl could escort all the children towards the church, he could stay behind and cover their retreat (he gulped at the thought of that, but moved back towards the group of children nonetheless)
    Of course you should fight fire with fire. You should fight EVERYTHING with fire!
    Jaya Ballard - Task Mage ™

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