TIMELINE
1. BEGINNING Things have only just begun. Can you get ahead of the problem or are things just going to go to shit?
2. MIDDLE Things HAVE gone to shit. You're right in the middle of things and there's no end in sight. You have to do your best just to get to tomorrow.
3. END Things are finally winding down (or amping up getting ready to wind down). You're in preparations for the final battle, you're killing off the last few zombies, you're living your life.
4. REBUILD/DESPAIR Things are OVER. Either you won or you lost, time to rebuild or go down in your bunker and cry. Hold onto your asses, folks.
SCENARIOS
1. MONSTERS/KAIJU Think Godzilla or Pacific Rim. There are monsters, huge ones, and you gotta go through some shit to keep them from killing everything and busting up that last Dunkin Donuts you go to every Thursday with the cute girl working the counter. This is an outrage!!
2. ZOMBIES You know the drill. Whether fast or slow, virus or reanimated, airborne or fluid-borne, biting or eating: your favorite thing, zombies. Remember to aim for the head.
3. ALIENS Visitors from space! ... Except they're killing all of you! Does anyone you know have a cold? Send them to the front lines.
4. WAR Everything's gone to hell. It's going to become a nuclear winter out there if someone doesn't stop the tide of this war. History won't be written by the victors because there won't BE any.
5. "UTOPIA" Everyone is happy, right? Things are so much better now that we don't have any emotions, right? When we started culling populations to keep enough supplies for everyone, right?
6. ROBOTS YOU DID THIS TO YOURSELVES. YIKES. Skynet is a thing, everything is terrible, you're gonna get owned by a Reaper, whatever. Take 'em out, cowboy.
7. DISEASE You're not turning into rabid monsters, but people are dying off at alarming rates. What's causing it? Is there a cure? Is anyone immune? Figure it out, boyo.
8. MISC Anything left over!! Killer tomatoes? World taken over by talking dogs in exoskeletons? Whatever man, we're not the cops. Have fun.
As always, these are just suggestions. Make up anything you want, as long as you're having fun! |
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bakerstreet2017-03-22 09:46 pm
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Also I'll have you know I happy squalled. I'm so happy to run into an Erend.]
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EDIT: omg...I also got it in my head that this was the beginning of the despair and not the end. jfc i'm dumb. is that okay? xD omg.)
[ They all believed that they were safe, that their world had been saved so that there was now a time for true peace to settle across the lands. The Shadow Carja had been pushed back and eclipse had been almost completely eradicated with only a few of each of those disgusting cowards skittering back into the dark corners and deep holes their depraved kind spawned from. But it had been naive to even entertain that Hades and his mad general Helis were the worst mankind would face.
After all, there were things far more devastating than machines and mortal men.
Sickness had always been part of human life; wounds became infected, fevers raged, and coughs that persisted throughout a person's lifetime were commonplace. There were shamans and medicine men and women, great healers and alchemists alike had also been just as commonplace and with them came elixirs and salves that eased ailments, cooled fevers, or brought relief to those afflicted. Of course not everything could be cured or even managed but for the most part it had never seemed to become unmanageable, never enough sick or dying to consider these things abnormal.
What was starting to creep across borders, across their connected lands, was definitely something Erend considered abnormal. But it appeared that while people were starting to notice the blackness that was seeping into their villages and camps, none were doing more than praying to their Gods or to their rulers. No one was trying to figure out where it started or how to stop it.
That didn't sit right with him and while he was no scholar or healer, he was doer. He had promised Ersa that he would grow up, be more responsible and take things more seriously than he had before and whatever was happening with the sick was definitely serious. He wanted to get to the bottom of it. He wanted to find a way to stop it from spreading further or getting worse. And he knew just someone he could possibly sweet talk into going on a quest with him to do just that...even if it meant he would owe Aloy even more than he already did.
It was for that reason that he sought her out. ]
So, you can see why I came to you, right? [His smile was more smirk but the sincerity in the question was there. He respected Aloy too much to be anything else. ] I mean, who else would be crazy enough to believe me and possible decide that I'm not going off on a fool's errand?
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[Perhaps this is the only time that the Nora's stern and barbaric outcast policy might have done them so good. Had this blight afflicted their people just a year before it would have been easy enough to exorcise it from their ranks. The Nora might have been the healthiest tribe left out of all of them once the dust had settled. But after the Corruption, after the Eclipse, there were enough lousy bandits roving between lands that them alone could spread the plague like filthy rats.]
[The rebirth of humanity now has to deal with its own Corruption.]
[Berries can only do so much, provide some healing to ragged lungs and stiff joints. If one is very lucky they might be given rare herbs capable of soothing their pain. But only if one is lucky. And with fewer and fewer healthy braves and caregivers resources are running thin. A search for a more permenant cure is essential as constantly treating symptoms is a ceaseless uphill battle that's doomed to failure.]
[As bitter as Aloy would always be over the Nora's actions towards Rost, towards herself, she is still a member of their tribe and she still honors them as Rost would have wished it. That's one solid reason that accepting a journey by Erend's side is an easy choice. Another is that she hardly sees him as having a debt. They've helped each other in equal measure, she helped him defend the honor of his people and his sister and maintain a peace, and Erend helped her save their fragile world. She's also grateful for how encouraging he had been in those early days. With a drone of voices swirling around her on her first day with the tribe Erend made a point of inviting her out to the greater wide world. He had been there to give her open freedom in a place where she otherwise might have not been welcome. Aloy doesn't lack of confidence, she's always had it in spades wether it was out of pride or out of spite, but the additional boon definitely didn't go amiss.]
[She's checking her pouch of berries to make sure she has enough on her. Going through any area where there might be Sawtooths meant she should remain loaded up.] I have an idea of where we should start looking. [She is starting to suspect that this disease might have erupted from one of the old shelters, something on the bodies left preserved in vaults after the fall of the Old World.] How good are you at climbing? Or am I going to have to carry you on my back. [Even in dire circumstances Aloy can't let him off the hook without a little bit of teasing.]
[She's also wondering if she can convince Erend to get up on a Strider, but that might take some work.]
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Hey, I might not be as a agile and steadfast when ascending a cliff-face as you but I mange. To get there in the end! [ He cried out, smiling through the, admittedly false, affront. Her ribbing was a particular comfort to him, reminding him of his sister in all the best and worst ways. It brought a warmth he enjoyed to the places within himself that had gone cold alongside Ersa when she went limp in his arms -- he'd might have only his memories of Ersa left to him but he was glad that the goading lived on. ]
That little trinket of yours giving you tips? [ The Focus was still a mystery to him despite knowing that it was Old World technology. He even had a basic understanding of how it worked but it was still to strange for him to accept so readily that that little doodad held more knowledge about the world, the machines that roamed it, and the people that came before than any manuscript or Wisewoman could ever dream of.
One of these days he might have to get him one. Not any time soon and maybe not until his hair was streaked from age. He'd have plenty of time to play around with it then. ]
And is that question of yours any indication that maybe I should have packed something warmer?
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Not here, it's not. But I know there buildings where healers used to work, and I know the Eclipse dug out a lot of places trying to find Corruptors and Deathbringers.
So I think they might have found an old sickness. And if they did that, maybe there'll be an old cure to go with it. [Not that it's a huge hope, another longshot. But so far, her longshots have been pretty lucky. Only this is a case where she can't tell Erend to meet me there. She has to go step by step, follow signs and tracks and look at clues.]
[Usually she would insist that she works best by herself, but does she? When she faced Deathbringers, huge machines of that level of hostility, he'd been an enormous help. Having him fight by her side had changed the game in what could have been the end of all things
all over again. Were he not there, she definitely would have fallen under the pressure, fell early without the aid of his cannons or been slaughtered by the swarm of machines meant to distract her from Hades. He's never done anything wrong standing behind her (despite his concerns he was "useless"), if anything he actually was capable of keeping up with her. It was worth it to Aloy to try a partnership this time, for those reasons and more]Sooo... [Her lips form a little "oh" as she draws out the word, and her pale eyes trace his face with a curious gaze. Time to ask this question, she guesses.] How do you feel about riding a machine?
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It's just a matter of finding which one and hoping that we also find a way to stop it from spreading. [No easy feat. He was up to the task and his Nora friend always seemed to meet challenges head on.]
What's a little trekking across the wilds, possibly into unknown lands and even stranger derelict ruins of the old world.
[The grin was back but it was pained. That harebrained idea Aloy was surely cooking up in her head about the possibility of his ass ending up on one of those tamed Striders of hers was not one he was fond of entertaining but he knew it had merit.]
Not everyone has your natural...grace when it comes to those Striders you ride around on. I've got a feeling if I try that we'll be spending just as much time keeping me upright on those things as we would traveling. [Erend shrugged.] But I can't say I haven't felt a tug of envy in my heart watching you stealing off on one.
Truly, a sight to behold.
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[Look at her. She's obviously going to laugh at some point. The future is practically foretold. With everything going on, though, it feels like ages since she's had a good laugh.]
Alright, let's get to work.
[And as usual she's already off to face her challenges, jogging away from the safe proximity of Meridian and past it's spearsmen. Erend has been a rare case of a person usually able to keep up with her, many fall behind or go slowly, and she expects the same will apply here. He also tends to stay out of the way unlike Nil did (she should have insisted on facing those bandits alone).] I think I know where a herd is. We may have to settle for a Broadhead.
[She won't say aloud that might suit him better for fear of it being taken as an insult. If anything it's a little charming to consider. Which she won't mention out loud either.]
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There's usually a few scattered close to the city's perimeter. [He offered as he followed behind. Usually there were several machines loitering around the area but, now that the corruption was purged and the docility returned to them, and the constant influx of travelers and merchants along the pathways there was a chance they wouldn't find them so close.]
At least there'll be something to hang on to in case I don't take to riding those things as well as you do.
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[There are still the ones built only for hostility. They don't exactly make things easier.]
I'll have to sneak up on them to override them. Other members of the herd will attack overridden machines, though. Useful when the corruption was around. Now? Not so much.
Follow! [She orders as she heads towards a set of outlines projected to her when she touches her focus, that special second sight that comes in so handy.] I'll override a couple. And if any of the rest of the herd notices, you strike hard with that big hammer of yours.
[Not that it has many special features, but it's obviously a great weapon for anyone stocky enough to wield it. She thinks she could heft it fine, but she's still not the heaviest woman in the world, and that center of gravity is a bitch.]