Day 4: Monster Arrival

[wizardseason]

Afternoon: 12:00noon - Evening

[ IRL Timeframe: July 17th - July 31st, 2019 ]

It's monster time.

The bright, glowing blue fissures are still open throughout the ground, they haven't gone anywhere. At last, social media has started buzzing about the source of the cracks. They're all originating from the mountain up the slope from Craydon! There are a ton of theories, including a non-negligible amount talking about a 'Wizard death machine'! Guess the heroes will have to find out for themselves.

As usual, though, social media is the fastest source of information. Do they have an inside man? Is one of the heroes actually the one feeding all the information to social media? Either way, there are numerous discussions going on about the "door on the mountain". Apparently satellite pictures have traced the cracks all the way up to a glowing door in the side of the mountain. It's absolutely not a manmade door and it's definitely magic in some way, but why is it there now?

Monster Arrival: Craydon: The Game Show.

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The Weather

• Eerily still.
• 66°F / 19°C
• Is... is that... air conditioning?

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Prompts:

• 12:00pm The Game Show, Craydon: Garrot, Rory, Joanna, Haizea, Olivia, Luka, Gyre, Seth, and Zafika will all find themselves teleported from wherever they were to a new and fantastical location. The room is dark, the stage is set, the hero is seated in a contestant's chair. Suddenly, the spotlight is on them and the curtains open: The crowd goes wild! In front of the hero is a big television screen with the words "Welcome!!" on it and, beside it, is the fourth monster. They're entirely humanoid, standing at roughly six feet tall, wearing a positively striking suit and tie. All four of their eyes look surprisingly normal on their face. They look like a regular person just with a second set of eyes where their upper cheeks are. They settle their yellow pupils on the hero in the chair as they smile wide and their mouth squishes as the space opens up into existence. Looks like the mouth isn't a permanent feature, but there's a soft bubbling sound that follows it and then their voice breaks the strange noises up. Their voice is high, eager, and unmistakably excited about the news they're about to share.
  
  "Are you ready for the show? Smile, you're on camera!" They say, hopping back and forth on their feet by the screen, barely able to contain their enthusiasm. Any hero who gives it even a moment of thought will realize two things: 1) Cameras don't work, and 2) That's not a real audience, this room is actually just dark and it's only them and the monster.
  
  Oh god, it's only them. Where are all the others? One on One monster fight? Great!


• 1:15pm Lounge Time, Bamborough: Social media is going bananas! That monster that was roaming around Far Haven's train station has made his way to Bamborough! The effects of the earthquake here may be less apparent, but there are still things to fix. But Ten won't be found fixing anything this time. Instead he's sitting on a beach chair, under an umbrella, on the oceanfront at the Bamborough Resort. On the little table to his right is a tall glass of tea and a portable USB charger. Because, in his hand, he's fiddling with a cell phone. Where did he get a cell phone? Who brought him tea? What on earth is happening?


• 4:00pm International Bungalo of Burgers, Bamborough: The social media war of "Crepes or Burgers" has begun, it's been set off by the Wizard arriving at IBoB for dinner. Just like the morning, she's asked for a group table in the restaurant. Gail, Terrence, and Matilda have all received special invitations right into their pocket (or their hand if they lack pockets). Enjoy a little card that says "One free burger!" with a stylized tiny Wizard face to the side looking very surprised!


• ??:00pm Mountain Door, Craydon: [Exploration] [Not yet revealed]

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Procedure:

Reply to the appropriate toplevel comments for events below. Indicate if a post is a private conversation with "Private" in the subject otherwise all threads should be open to interaction with others. Plan OOCly how you'd like to toss everyone around.

Important: 'Exploration' toplevels will unlock additional information as items in their descriptions are explored. If your character explores a feature, write [Character explores ____] at the end of your tag and send a ping on Discord to get a reply with further details regarding that item.

Comments

[tropicalstorm]

She narrows her eyes as Four leans forwards, she wants to just knock their head off. But, she pauses, looks at the scale, and takes a deep breath to center herself.

Then, she stirs up some wind, and it is strong. Extremely so. She builds it up in a cyclone so that the force can concentrate and when it's at its peak, she shoots it off towards the scale pushing the little man up and up the mountain, all the way to 1000...

... And then, with all the force she can muster, the force of the wind breaks the end of the scale, and the little man flies off towards the stratosphere.

[wizardseason]

Four watches with the following emotions, in order, as the little man goes up and up and up and away!

Delight. Curiosity. Confusion. Horror. Anguish.

"Dear contestant, what have you done!!" They exclaim as they run over towards the scale, placing their hands on both sides of their head in utter despair. How could this happen!!

It made good television, that's how it happened.

"Whatever will we do!! We have to guess the value of something!" They say, turning towards the audience. There's murmuring in the shadows-- and then there's a hush that falls over the entire room as they turn slowly back towards Haizea...

...and the lights in the room go dark. Only two spotlights remain: One on Four, one on Haizea, and they're looking positively terrifying as their face is revealed to just be one big wide smiling nightmare of an expression. Their hands haven't left their head, and they pose the replacement value to be guessed:

"How much is your life worth?"

The little man is back on the scale.

...and he's glued at zero.

Oh no.

[tropicalstorm]

She actually grins at this. If this monster is finally ready to fight her, then that's a huge improvement over trying to compete in some silly game.

"My life? Who knows..." she trails off, and puts a finger on her chin pensively. "But I'm thinkin' it's worth more than yours!"

She wheels on Four suddenly, her arms swinging in a large arc to summon up a gust of wind that she aims towards them, hoping to curve it into a cyclone around them. Maybe this will stop their fast footwork they displayed before!

[wizardseason]

This wasn't what they wanted at all! But they are also completely unsurprised by it. They stand in the center of the sudden gusting cyclone all around them, their stance becoming one of an unamused shrug. Their expression looks very much like an exclamation of "oh no, you got me" a moment before it goes completely blank.

Their face is featureless, absent of any eyes or mouth at all, as the cyclone shreds them to pieces like paper. Bits of their outfit and body settle to the ground all around them and, a moment later, the spotlight that was on them goes off.

It is silent. Nothing moves. There is only the deafening sound of silence pressing in from all angles.

The last spotlight, the only light on the stage, goes off before long and Haizea's left in darkness.

...

And then Haizea is dropped as if the floor was a trapdoor. The world beneath is exactly where she'd been taken from: The rubble and debris of the city. She's left there, like none of it had ever happened, with no sign of the blackness she'd been dropped out of.

In her hand, she'll find an ornate Thank You note in an envelope. Her name is written on the outside, and within is a handwritten letter in fancy cursive letting: "Thank you, dear Contestant Haizea, for an incredible showing of energy and excitement! You helped make this a wonderful and unforgettable experience!"

The letter is, of course, signed with an elaborate "4"

Congratulations, Haizea?