apocalypsehowooc | Event OOC

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Event OOC - Material Goods

Material Goods - OOC

Summaries and content warnings for each prompt in the event are provided below. Please pose questions to the designated mod comment, and plot away! Two items of note, in addition:

1. You can catch a sneak preview of the event with Stephen Strange's network announcement.
2. The NPC Kahlil will be run by Mod Kathryn for this event. Due to vacation plans, there will be a pause, significant slowdown in responses at the end of January/start of February. They will pick up again upon her return for any lingering threads.

➥ By Hook or By Crook: 15-16 January
➥ Comfortably Numb: 16-31 January
➥ Feed Me, Kahlil: 18 January
➥ The Vegetable Lamb of Tartary: 18-19 January

➥ By Hook or By Crook
(cw: potential for violence, criminal activity, bombs/bomb threats, injury, incarceration, police brutality)

Characters work to stop departure and delivery of all goods from the docks to Things of Beauty. And disrupt the store's operations. There will be opportunities to destroy boxes, delay them, and otherwise cause chaos for those trying to get these goods to market, whether by physically being there or causing bureaucratic snarls. ADI will be providing what materials they can to keep people hidden/safe, but if you get arrested… well, enjoy cooling your jets in lock-up for a night. They are none too gentle with anyone they catch, either. The police will let people out once they know they're with ADI, but there will be fines issued for being caught, and given they know ADI isn't likely to ever sue them if they want to keep their own secrets, anyone locked up might not be shown a particularly nice time, depending on the officer.

➥ Comfortably Numb
(cw: body horror, injury (hands/arms), bleeding, mouths where there should not be mouths, supernatural drugging/apathy)

A few products have made it to market, but not many. The combined efforts have put a real crunch on supply and that's driving up prices and demand, as a result. People are angry and willing to pay outrageous sums for… what appears to be a disturbingly flesh-like phone case. People with the cases are seemingly obsessed with them, guarding them closely from people even as the things seem to be visibly growing mouths and biting at them. The people either don't notice or don't care. ADI will be asking people to steal the cases and dispose of them. You can spot a victim by the blood coating their hands. Unfortunately, the cases have a numbing effect on those who come into contact with them. Maybe that explains the indifference. You can't feel any physical pain with these, and even emotional pain seems to be dulled. Just relax and let yourself be taken. Cleaning up the mess caused by these phone cases and tracking every single one down is likely to take a week or two.

➥ Feed Me, Kahlil
(cw: severe emotional distress, emotional blackmail, internalized victim blaming, kidnapping, injury (hands/arms))

The proprietor of Things of Beauty, Kahlil Nassir, is an increasingly emotional wreck over the course of the days leading up to the product launch and after it. Possibly it's from the lack of supply, or maybe there's something else he's feeling bad about. Either way, it's time to question this man with his heavily bandaged fingers and arms on exactly what he knows.

➥ The Vegetable Lamb of Tartary
(cw: body horror, uncanny valley, pregnancy imagery, loss of skin, implied animal death, implied human death, unsanitary conditions, self-doubt/body image issues)

Kahlil has revealed the location of a warehouse where characters will be able to confront the thing that's been creating the flesh phone cases, and destroy it. Characters will need to work together to destroy all parts of this thing or it will keep regrowing in different areas. Unfortunately, due to the warehouse's location, just bombing or burning it is not going to be an option. Characters will need to get a bit more creative in their monster-destruction schemes.

A Handy Plotting Form

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

re: Comfortably Numb

I don't expect this to be a cure or anything, but I'm curious what effect, if any, Jeff's emotional manipulation magic would have on a person afflicted by the fleshy phone cases. Would it be able to bring a moment of lucidity, or panic, or just fizzle and fall flat, or possibly SOMETHING ELSE?

(actually, this is an even dumber question but would mood magic be able to affect the flesh cases themselves, or do they lack the... cognitive functioning for that)

Jeff's magic would be able to bring a moment of lucidity, but it's at a cost. The cost being that the effect of the case (the numbness) will rebound upon Jeff much more strongly than on the person he's just affected.

The flesh cases lack the cognitive function to be affected by that sort of magic, unfortunately.

i got a few questions on wanda using her magic for some scenarios!

1. if wanda were to use telepathy on the crates, the phone cases, or the lambs, will she be able to tune in to anything in particular, such as thoughts or emotions?
2. i'm thinking of having wanda use her mental+emotional manipulation to talk to kahlil, and she will do it similarly to in age of ultron: sneakily. try to, anyway. sorry, nia. would she be roped into consequences for using magic so directly in the ADI? 👁 would it be considered a big no for kahlil to be aware of magic?

1. The only 'emotion' she's going to get off of the lambs/cases/crates is hunger. A voracious, insatiable hunger. She'll get hit with feedback if she tries it for too long, finding herself developing that hunger, as well. If you'd prefer to avoid any cannibalistic urges, this can be for any sort of food or something more metaphorical.

2. Given the situation going on with Kahlil and his cases, ADI is going to assume he's already aware of the supernatural, so that's not a problem when characters are questioning him. For the magic usage, though, there would definitely be consequences for being caught. It's going to be exceptionally difficult for her to do her magic without being caught due to the video cameras running and the observation happening while she's questioning Kahlil. She would need to do something drastic to distract any ADI personnel with her and make sure she can block the camera in the room from seeing what she's doing, at the same time. If she's caught, she'll be removed from questioning Kahlil (for dramatic/narrative purposes, she'd have time for a couple of questions before someone grabs her), and taken to her own interrogation room to have a Talk about what just happened and why, precisely, she has the fuel to perform magic. This can be handwaved with an NPC or, more ideally, another PC in relatively good standing with ADI can be roped in to talk to her about her magic and why she needs to stop doing that. Following that, Wanda will find that any time she is not within the Flophouse, she will have a very obvious tail. ADI is watching her and they are going to make it very obvious that they are doing so in an attempt to set her on the straight and narrow of no magic.

1. that sounds like super fun, i hate it. thanks!

2. alright, here's a few more questions on that: a) i talked with PG, yelena's player, and we were wondering on the possibility of yelena somehow being allowed to observe the interrogation as ADI personnel? she'll very subtly try giving wanda a hand with the whole situation. b) could wanda head into the interrogation with a friend, or will it strictly be a one-person admitted at a time? c) should she be caught, will there be confirmation mods in one way or another when this happens during the thread, or will it be up to my discretion? d) could wanda eventually confront this obvious tail, and what exactly would they do to attempt to set her on the straight and narrow? (or is this more of a 'we'll cross that bridge when we get there, calm down kira' situation HAHA) e) would there be significant consequences, should wanda get caught, for the PC friends that helped her out? 👀

a) As long as Yelena hasn't caused any problems in recent months for ADI/she's an employee in good standing, that would be fine! She could be one of the observers assigned to make sure Kahlil isn't hurt during interrogations, and she could offer some subtle assistance.

b) Characters are welcome to go into the interrogation room in pairs.

c) We'd leave this up to your discretion. Just please be aware that if she does something egregiously obvious, you can expect there would be a pretty quick response to that.

d) More of a we'll cross that bridge! The tail is there specifically to just let her know that they're watching her, and she will be taken out if they catch her terrorizing people to fuel her abilities. This information will be provided in a matter-of-fact manner. To ADI, this isn't about threatening her, it's about explaining what the consequences of her own actions are going to be.

e) That will depend on circumstances. If she doesn't snitch on her friends and it's not obvious they were helping, there may be no consequences. If it's obvious they were helping her, they'll suffer a similar loss of privileges and surveillance.

Is there any further information that can be discovered about Hakeem Williams or his disappearance?

A little digging will find that Mr. Williams appears to be a pretty normal citizen of Gloucester–he's a widower living alone and it seems that he'd been out of contact with friends and relatives for a week or so before a friend checked in on his house in person when they couldn't get in contact with him and found it abandoned. Of note is the fact that the local bank at which he spent most of his career is the same bank where Things of Beauty has kept its accounts for decades, and that he appears to have been friends with Kahlil Nassir's parents.

Alright this feels awful to say, but RE: the warehouse and the lambs, will just... blunt-force beating them to death work? I know ya'll mentioned they could regrow from any living bit, but if you whack it like a pinata will it eventually expire?

Unfortunately, just hitting them only seems to pulp the lambs and spread them around to grow in new and exciting places. Some of those places may well be the hands of the person who has just clobbered them. If Beau isn't quick to wipe the mess off her hands, she might find little roots quickly trying to dig into her skin, searching for all those delicious nutrients packed inside of her.

Absolutely disgusting and fucking perfect, thank you mods!!

A couple of questions, one relating directly to the event, and one for the event and long-term.

1. In canon, the existence of the Archivist allows people to give statements, both verbal/in person, and written, and recorded, with extreme clarity - remembering lots of details, no stumbling over words or getting off track. This effect is not limited to him taking the statement - it seems to just be active for everyone who gives a statement, whether he's there or not. In Episode 100 we see the difference when Jon is kidnapped and this is not active.

This is not something he does actively - it's just something that seems to be tied to the Archivist existing.

Is this effect present now, in this world, and if so, would ADI be noticing they get more reports from people about their experiences that are just *fantastically* written or spoken?

And if the effect is present, could he potentially persuade Kahlil to write a statement that he could then read? (He is really trying hard to not actively feed on people).

2. If Jon were to compell answers from Kahlil without notice? It just involves him asking questions - nothing flashy about it.

1. As with other abilities in Apocalypse How, this effect would be limited if Jon has not been feeding his patron. It will also be limited to those in his immediate vicinity, rather than being something that helps ADI out, in general, when Jon is not directly there. If Jon would like to talk to Kahlil, he could be persuaded to make a statement. However, his level of eloquence and honesty in that statement will be tied to how much fear juice Jon has saved up. If it's not much, the ability isn't going to work very well. If he has some and/or he actively scares Kahlil before demanding a statement, that would be much more effective in making the power work.

2. As before, Jon will need to have a store of fear built up for his ability to work. Beyond that, if he has the power, he could compel Kahlil. The specific nature of the question would determine if Kahlil freaks out and gives away that Jon is using a power. Asking him something he'd already be inclined to answer would probably not cause any particular notice.

Reaching out here to clarify - you can expect a ICly written statement from Kahlil in the next few days following his agreement to create one. How charged up is Jon's fear battery? The level of detail and narrative coherence of the statement depends upon the Archivist's ability to lend clarity to the statement giver.

He's not taken any live statements from people so not fully souped up, but he has been going into town and asking questions to make people just a bit scared without ending up in his dreams.

That should be enough! It may take another couple days to get that written up, but you/Jon should receive Kahlil's statement this week.

Kahlil's statement has been posted!

Thank you!

What would Aelwyn find after doing further research into Ignatius von Brandt or the firm he was from?

Ignatius von Brandt appears not to exist–there's no record to be found of him. Faulkner, Yuan, Reid, and Eames, Inc. turns up easily upon an internet search–it's not a law firm at all; it's actually a mining company based in North Carolina that turned up in the news a few months ago.

She'll also check to see if there's any connection to be found between them and Fenix Down's circus, Things of Beauty, ADI, Ren, etc.

There are no obvious ties between FYRE and Fenix Down/ADI/Ren, but some digging would turn up that FYRE appears to be the ones funding the ads for Things of Beauty.

Interesting. Can she find any prior projects of theirs other than Things of Beauty and the coal mine?

They seem to have a decent footprint in oil and gas production, as well as some smalle solar energy projects, but Things of Beauty is definitely an outlier. The only other notable non-energy venture they've been involved in seems to be promoting a line of candles with unusual scents like Burnt Wood and Coal Dust.

Where's their closest office?

The nearest office is located in West Virginia.

➥ Jeff!

→ Canon: Original
→ Housing: Bonnie's
→ What ADI Department(s) Does the Character Work In?: Vaguely Investigations, occasionally Admin
→ Permissions: HERE

→ By Hook or By Crook: JEFF'S TIME TO SHINE, BABY. He'll be sabotaging trucks and causing chaos to delay/stop shipments. I believe he'll be partnering with Aelwyn for this, since it's always good to have two morally flexible wizards on a task!

Jeff's also available to help people who may be in danger of getting caught by the cops. He'll actually use his magic for a good cause (for once) and make officers sleepy/chill/happy/distracted/WHATEVER so his ADI pals can escape. Annnnd I'm still deciding if this will backfire on him and end with Jeff in a jail cell.

→ Comfortably Numb: Another opportunity for Jeff's emotional manipulation magic to maybe???? do some good? for once? Or, at least, he can try to shake people out of their apathy with the power of bardic magic.

OH. AND. Also open to Jeff getting one of them off somebody, and then immediately getting consumed by a blissful indifference, if anyone would like to rescue him from that.

→ Feed Me, Kahlil: If someone wants to partner with Jeff on some good cop/bad cop, he's available. But this definitely isn't his strong suit.

→ The Vegetable Lamb of Tartary: N/A lbr he's not going to be of any use here

Edited 2022-01-14 21:51 (UTC)

➥ Katrina

→ Canon: Siren
→ Housing: ADI housing
→ What ADI Department(s) Does the Character Work In?: Security 😈
→ Permissions: HERE

→ By Hook or By Crook: Katrina will not be participating in this segment of the plot, because she will end up caught and exposing her own non-humanmess by just being herself, only more aggressive. It's for the best. Someone will tell her she can fight and kill things later, it'll make her agree not to do something so stupid so soon.
→ Comfortably Numb: idk like. She's absolutely down to slap the phone cases out of people's hands, but there's likely to be colateral damage in the form of additional skin and muscle tearing from her uh. Assistance. But she could also stab them with a spear and avoid touching them that way. Lmk if you want a warrior mermaid helping your character out here.
→ Feed Me, Kahlil: Her only contribution in a conversation with Kahlil would be to intimidate him with threats of violence, so unless anyone really wants that, it's probably best she sits this one out too.
→ The Vegetable Lamb of Tartary: This is her jam. Fighting to kill. Let her at it. She will help anyone who goes in and is in trouble. She's got a lot of anger in her, time to put it to good use!

I need CR with these two like burning; I feel like they'd get along too well.

Oh my god yes. My memories of Xena are all but gone, but y e s

EXCELLENT I'll keep an eye out for Katrina in gamespace; ADI isn't ready for this duo but I sure am.

➥ Manji

→ Canon: Blade of the Immortal
→ Housing: ADI housing C1
→ What ADI Department(s) Does the Character Work In?: Investigations
→ Permissions: HERE

→ By Hook or By Crook: Destroy boxes? Manji can handle that. Run away from the cops? Been there, done that. He'll be turning up, wrecking things, running off, just to show back up again. He'll be willing to try to help others outrun the cops. He may also try to draw his sword against the cops, but clearly that won't work well should the cops decide to bring a gun to a sword fight. Luckily Manji is immortal so that shouldn't be an issue. (Note: Manji's immortality is tied to magical worms so if you don't want body horror/worms I can make sure Manji doesn't get hurt).

→ Comfortably Numb: If Manji finds someone with a phone case he won't sugar coat things. He'll just be walking up and snatching the phones from the victims. Doing his best not to harm them if he can, but he also isn't exactly gentle. If a person needs to lose a finger to save their arm? That's the sort of thing Manji won't even blink or hesitate over.

→ Feed Me, Kahlil: Manji isn't great when it comes to doing an interrogation. He can try to play the bad cop, but his heart won't really be into it.

→ The Vegetable Lamb of Tartary: Manji can hack and slash pretty well. He would probably then suggest burning if that doesn't work. Then perhaps some sort of poison after that to kill the creature. Mostly his go to is stabbing things.

➥ Callisto

→ Canon: Xena: Warrior Princess
→ Housing: ADI Housing, C4
→ What ADI Department(s) Does the Character Work In?: Investigations, security
→ Permissions: HERE

→ By Hook or By Crook: Chaos? Don't mind if she does :) I'm not necessarily angling for her to get caught, but if it happens during the course of a thread, I'm down for it!
→ Comfortably Numb: Oh boy, looks like this month will be continuing the worrying trend of Callisto willingly subjecting herself to some supernatural baddie because she's decided that the effects are Kind of Cool, Actually. She'll assist with theft and disposal of the cases, but she'll also try to get bitten, because yes please, deaden her emotional pain, she's into that.
→ Feed Me, Kahlil: I'm up for her getting dragged into this somehow but have no specific plans! Overall, more diplomatic folks would probably be of better service here.
→ The Vegetable Lamb of Tartary: She'll happily throw herself into this fray and lend her sword to the cause!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Event OOC - Material Goods

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