Mod Post. 8/14/19.

[awashmods]

Shadows Will Walk
[ 8/16 - 8/23 ]

With the way things have been going, surely characters would think that the next menace to come will come from the woods -- and they'd have fair reason to think that. But while the trees loom and encroach as alarmingly as ever, that's not, in fact, the next problem.

The next problem comes from the Well.

Observant characters will have noted by now that it regained color this month, and... well, with that, things seem to have started to go a little wonky. It's much like when new characters arrive -- there will be people at the bottom of the well. The problem is, well... these people aren't quite Right. They're solid, and they're humanoid, but it's as if they're unfinished. They have no color, and very little in the way of features. Their blank faces might have the barest hint of a nose, or indentations where eyes might be, but otherwise?

Nothing.

It's like they're a humanoid blank slate.

They don't speak (can't speak?), and don't seem to feel much either. They simply clamber out of the well (with or without your help) and at first? They just Follow You. They'll latch onto a particular character and follow them everywhere they go. Around the Town, into the woods, staring through their window...they just follow, constantly, without being shaken off at all.

(Note that they can be killed, and quite easily. They crumble as if discarded dolls, very creepily, still staring.)

But for every one of the creatures that's killed, another clambers out of the well to take its place.

And the thing is... they aren't exactly threatening, except for one little thing.

If they catch a character near or in the woods, they will try to drag them off into the woods, never to be seen or heard from again. With how the trees have been encroaching on the Town, that's unfortunately actually pretty easy, so be careful of that. Their touch has a numbing effect, so it's actually quite dangerous to be grabbed by them -- your limbs, face, or even chest could go entirely numb, depending on where they touch you and for how long.

Oh, and one more thing. Some less creepy and far more familiar faces might also be showing up in the well alongside these interlopers. Weird that they'd all show up together. Wonder what it all means? It's probably significant.

If you have any questions, please ask them here! This is only the beginning part of endgame, slowly kicking things off while bringing new/old characters into the game. The log for this event will be up 8/16. Thank you, everyone!

Comments

QUESTIONS

[awashmods]

Re: QUESTIONS

[passio]

here’s a nostalgic question!! if dextera were to purify one of the creepy doll things, what sort of crystal would he get?

[awashmods]

A very nostalgic question! Dextera will have no trouble purifying one, but he will find the outcome uncanny. The crystal will be as if he purified... an almost person. As if he purified a person, but a person who's missing most of their actual traits -- their personality, their beliefs, their emotions, their thoughts and hopes and dreams.

So really, he basically just purified the shell of what might have been someone, sans all of the bits that make them a someone!

[passio]

follow up! how will the pocketwatch react to them?

[awashmods]

The pocketwatch will go absolutely haywire when brought near them in a way that Dextera will not have seen before. It's as if the pocketwatch can't tell if they're supposed to belong to this world or not -- the readings flip every which way and that constantly when brought near one.

Re: QUESTIONS

[youwillbeunequaled]

How are the humanoids dressed? (aka, like the town's people, or like people from another world?)

[awashmods]

They are dressed in all sorts of fashions -- like people from the various worlds that all of the characters are from in Awash, and then some.

[mythratastic]

Backing on this question:

Will they be wearing/dressed as/holding anything that the player characters might identify as belonging to someone they know?

Edit: what are the dolls made of? Like, wood? Clay? Or when they’re attacked do they bleed?

[awashmods]

They can be wearing clothing that the characters might recognize from their home worlds as typical garb there, but nothing that would identify them as actual characters/canonmates, if that makes sense!

The dolls feel as though they are made of human flesh, though they do not bleed when they are taken down, and they do not have internal organs, if anyone tries to dissect one to find out.

[allfornothing]

When you say 'never to be heard from again' do you mean permadeath, Chroma death, or a different adventure?

[awashmods]

If dragged off into the woods and not rescued, the characters will encounter a Chroma death!

(Unless you would like for it to be a permadeath, which could be arranged.)

[espritdecorpse]

What happens if you:

Draw actual faces on them?
Write a name on them, and then write a story about them in The Book?
Tie them up/trap them somewhere?

[awashmods]

1. Faces can be drawn on them; it feels an awful lot like drawing on skin in an uncanny sort of way. Nothing happens, though! (But the drawings will stick around for awhile, so maybe that'll make them less creepy).

2. A story could be written about them in The Book, and they will be affected by it. Important to note is that each character can only write one sentence in the book that will actually take effect; they do not have the power to do anything else. So they could, presumably, make one thing happen to one of the creeper humanoids, if they so chose to use their sentence for that purpose!

3. They can be both tied up and trapped without too much trouble -- they're tireless, though, so eventually they will manage to get the bindings undone and continue on in their creepy shambling way.

[wordsinthesoul]

Huh.

If someone goes to check the well out after spotting some of these, would they find anything particularly strange?

[awashmods]

The well itself, aside from now having color again, does feel different, but just poking around and looking around won't be enough to tell if anything is strange in it. Anyone who takes a look will certainly think that there is something, but it's a bit like the sensation of not being able to put their finger on it, exactly.

It might take a little bit more than just checking the well out during the event to find what that is, but they'd certainly be onto something!

[noholdsbard]

Piggybacking onto this question, but if Tristan uses his harp to trace the origins of these creatures, what would he find? Would he see them materializing within the well or find nothing or…

[awashmods]

He will sense them materializing from many, many different, half-formed origins -- they do materialize in the well, but not from the well, if that makes sense.

Instead, they materialize from many, many different places, but none of the places are quite tangible enough to be explicitly read.

Re: QUESTIONS

[wooden_one]

Okay! Question! Do they have a soul that can be exorcised? If Chu Wanning tried to use TianWen to question their souls is there a soul that can be questioned? Can it talk?

Oh and how strong are these things?

[awashmods]

They do not have souls! They will easily be able to tell that these creatures are missing that pivotal part that would make them actual humans.

They have the strength of a standard human being -- no powers or unusual feats of strength from these guys!

[wooden_one]

Thanks! Just one more question: can he calm them/put them to sleep using Jiuge's ability?

[awashmods]

They can be calmed/put to sleep temporarily, yes! Eventually, they will wake up again and get back to their original behavior.

[good_ideas]

Quick question! What would happen if Shiho touched one of those creepy doll things and used her psychometry on them?

Also if she panicked and shot one, would she be able to take one down like that?

[awashmods]

To Shiho, they will feel incomplete in an uncanny way -- it'll feel as though they should have a past and history and dreams and thoughts like any other human being, and she should be able to read them, but when she tries there's just...nothing there. She'll be able to tell that it's not her powers that are malfunctioning, but rather that there's really just not anything to read even though it feels like there should be.

And yes, shooting one would work, so long as it's a lethal place! You can think of them a bit like human beings in the sense of what will take one down.

Re: QUESTIONS

[mythratastic]

What happens if someone uses a flower to restore color to one of these creatures?

Also (and I’m so sorry that this needs to be asked but it came up in a thread—), if Mythra/Pyra kisses or cries on one of these creatures or the well itself, would anything happen?

[awashmods]

They will have color restored, in a sense -- muted colors that look as though a layer of grey was splashed over them. It's as if their original colors just don't entirely exist in the Town. It doesn't change their behavior, nor does it give them any features on their face.

Kissing or crying any of them will have no unusual or particular effects this time, though!