Stalkers RPG: Dustwoken - Main Action and Team Status [SEASON 1]

[Neo Emolga]

Time to go digging in a place where my hunches direct me so! And by that, I mean going to a place we’ve already looked at. Hand me that mantra and wish me luck!

[ACTION DECIDED: Take the Macabre Mantra to the mural in Seabourne Hospital and read that bad boy out! See if we can follow up on anything with Korak!]

As the moon rises overhead, you head out into the night, taking the eerie and cryptic words of the Macabre Mantra with you. You’re not quite sure what to expect once this is done, but you know that if you’re to find the source of truth behind the Stalkers, it’s going to mean going into the dragon’s den.

Once you arrive at the hospital, you head toward where the mural is. It hasn’t changed since the last time it was seen and still depicts the grim caricature of Jackia and Sal as well as the unknown Blaziken father, but you have a feeling that if Edifice kills again, that might change things.

Feeling a bit anxious, you take the words of the mantra and you speak them out loud…

“We are all banded by evil…” you begin, feeling uneasy about these words. “It seems into all of us. You cannot run from your sins. You will learn to eat your guilt. Relinquish your innocence. You are just one amongst many. A dream of my own design. A nightmare no one escape from. To become the thing you seek to kill. This is EDIFICE.”

…

Colored has used the [Macabre Mantra].

{The Fallen Mantra Mural: Unspoken Macabre Words}

For a moment, there is nothing, and you almost begin to wonder if something went wrong or if a step was missed.

And then, from the blackness of the night…

#Deranged Sin Voices – PSYCHIC (8 Purity Damage)# Trap 40% Evasion Test: 76 out of 100: Failed!

…

“Colored, help!” you hear a voice cry out. “Please help me!”

You turn frantically, looking in all directions, but there is nothing. This area of the hospital remains quiet and there’s no one around.

“Who… who’s there?” you ask. “What’s… what’s wrong?”

And there is silence. For a minute, you wonder if you’re just imagining things, but you feel anxious again. There’s an unusual amount of stillness now. You feel like someone should have been passing by in that hospital now, but there’s been no one you can see in the windows.

“Where are you, Colored!?” the voice cries out again. “I can’t find you!”

“I’m right here!” you should back. “What’s…!”

And then you stop yourself, realizing what you said was a mistake. Suddenly, the lights in the hospital shut off and the faint illumination they gave this outside area goes dark. Even the very faint moonlight is suddenly gone when you look up and dark clouds smother and blot out the moon and the little light it was producing.

For a moment, you see nothing. It’s completely pitch black. You turn in all directions, but then you see something… disturbing.

The faces. The faces of Jackia, Sal, and the Blaziken father… are revealed, and they are the only things that can be seen in the void-like blackness. And their faces are distorted, as if they were burned, scarred, and then warped and melting like their faces were made of nothing more than goopy clay.

Colored has suffered 1 damage to Purity.

“Get me out of here, this isn’t real!” you shout.

But your demands fall upon silence. You only hear l̯̥̱͈a̙͐u̥̟̹̙̫̹̐̅̅̌̎ͦg̤̞͎͉̺h̬̣͍̾͊́i̤̞͙͚̹̎̔̉̄̑n̗ ̣g and it sounds grotesque.

“You could have protected Jackia,” the shrieking voice mocks you. “But you chose not to. You chose to put her in harm’s way.

Y̓̆̌̈oU̯͔͚̣̖̜ͅ C͇͓̥̰̃͗̊ͫh̜͔̦̺ö́ͥͣ̿̌͑͛S̗É̝͍͔̤̅̓̚ ̫͓̦̯͎͇̻̂ͧ̔̅̔͛ͥTo͆̑́̓̆̔́ ̀̌̊̔̚LĖ̻̙̣̭͉̺͐̆̒̾͐̀ͅt̻̦̼͕̲̅ͭ͋ͥ̚ ̻̝͎̲̼̳H̝͐e͋̆̽̾͛ͨR̿ͣ̄̂ ̣̜͔̘̙ͯ̃̈͐̒̏̿ͅͅD̦̬̜͓I̝͓̩ȅ̀”

…

“No!” you shout, refusing to believe that. “There’s no way I could have known she would be the next target! And why…

…no…

YOU were the one that killed her!” you insist, denying your guilt.

At first you thought the truth would protect you. The fact that you could not protect every citizen in this town all at once. It would be impossible. It wasn’t your fault and you couldn’t be blamed for what happened. If you had known, you would have done everything in your power to protect her last night.

But here, the truth… the facts… ar͈̻͈̘e̫͇̹͇͔ ̳̘̬̦̹͍ͅb̯̩͕̗͍l̥̳̺̩̱a͍̹̟s͍̙̭̥̟p̭ẖ̩̫͔̙eͅͅmy̱͍̫̰ ̹̖.

The facts don’t provide you with a shield in this place. Instead, your brain goes cold, and then you suddenly feel like you had your mind melt. Facts no longer make sense, the things you remember are disjointed and now hardwired all the wrong way. Up is suddenly left, and suddenly its wrong and forever wrong. Your name is jumbled, the letters melt and don’t make sense anymore. And then even more chaos and anarchy is added in viciously, making you think incoherent thoughts that soon turn to destruction and murder…

Up is death. Left is massacre. Your name spells suffering in another language, and then it is blown apart like the trillions of pieces of billions of victims…

Color̆ͬ̾ͬ̒̍̈́ed has s̙̼̝͇͉uf̭͕f̟͈e̞̰͍r͕eḏ 3 damage to Purity.

You imagine a distorted world where everything is lit aflame. The buildings are upside-down, melting, the streets are consuming lava, the trees are raging fireballs while the Pokémon you see are warped, frozen, and then pulled apart, as if the entire world has been inflicted with a hideous virus and now what should be the apocalypse is in fact the very beginning of a new, burning world. You see yourself, now turned into a monster with a Snivy’s head, the body of a Pidgeot, the ears and paws of a Cinccino, the feet of a Palpitoad, and with a Morelull’s mushrooms growing out of your head. And the others… the other Pokémon around you are all the same way as chimeras of multiple Pokémon that don’t fit at all together, but also with their bodies warping… melting, being randomly ripped apart and then scattered… only to be put back together like puzzles haphazardly-assembled completely wrong.

The world is bathed and lit aflame again, and then suddenly frozen like cold frosty death, and yet you cannot feel hot or cold… only pain.

And the worst part of all…

Your brain… your mind… isn’t even afraid of this anymore. B̖e͖̱̗̩̟͕c͙̠̬̦̯̗͕ḁ̩̘͙̣̖̻u̲͔̱͕̬͕s̜̰͎e̻̱ ͖̘i̭t’s ͇̮̺̥t̜̟̣̘he͇̟ ̱̼̥͖͉n̙̱͇̦̫͍e̟̣̣͔̥̬̬w ̜͕̲no̞̭͓r̥̗̣ma̼l̫. This is what the rest of the future will be like. Your future. Everyone’s future. You gawk, your vision becomes blurry, and then suddenly… you cannot help but defecate where you stand, right on the twisting sidewalk that’s suddenly lit aflame again. It comes out of your b͒͋͐̓͊̊́ͫ̃ͤ̓̚l̤̠̩͔͚͓̹̟͈̩̣͉̣ͩͦ͑̓ͫ̇̐ͪ̑̅ͥ͗͌e͓̼̱ͪ͋͒̅ͫ̋ ͇̠̹ẻͥ̉̍̉ͦ̊̔̅̒̄ͪ̑d̝̠͉͕͚͉i͐ng colon like hot, fiery lava, but once it has been expelled from your scorching anus, you feel better, although the burning still remains. You should have been embarrassed, but instead… you’re bashful but proud. You giggle.

Something terrible makes your hideous, chimera-like body turn around to see what your excreted fecal accomplishment looks like, and then you gawk at the sight of it, just laying there in a putrid pile.

…It’s the rotten remains of youṟ̳̰͍̘̼͖̜̮͍̯̱ ̭̜͚̳͈̱̦̲͓̹̟̱b̲̖̘̖̘̞͎͓̠̭̭̣͔̱ͅrain.

But you laugh, because you don’t need it anymore. In fact, you’re better off without it! You twitch, dance a monstrous jig, and then you rip off your own Cinccino arm and use your other arm to hit yourself in the head with it as the world continues to scramble out of control!

DiE diE Die DiE dIE dIe DIe DIE diE DiE diE Die DiE dIE dIe DIe DIE diE DiE diE Die DiE dIE dIe DIe DIE diE DiE diE Die DiE dIE dIe DIe DIE diE DiE diE Die DiE dIE dIe DIe DIE diE DiE diE Die DiE dIE dIe DIe DIE diE

Blood is all over you.

But you find yourself unable to die. It’s simply not enough. Instead, you rip off your Cinccino ears… and then your Palpitoad feet, followed by the Morelull mushrooms… blood gushing into the flames. When that’s not enough, you drag yourself by your one remaining arm to a blacker-than-death wrought-iron fence and then forcefully RAM your eyes into the spearhead-like tips. They burrow deep into your eye sockets before nestling themselves into the empty cavity where your rotting brain used to be. Sickly black and red blood oozes from your mouth, piling the mucus-like goop onto the flaming sidewalk below.

You howl from the tremendous, suicidal pain, and with one last horrific laugh, you shout loudly and your voice booms throughout the entirety of this hideous abomination of a world you now dwell in. It echoes throughout the burning lands, as if you’ve become some dark, unholy god for all to be called to with your horrendous booming voice.

“THiS iS EDiFiCe!!!” You gleefully shriek with unholy laughter.

The world ignites again and the macabre flames rage higher. All of the twisted and hideous chimera-beings that are around you cheer with thunderous applause…

…your performance has truly inspired them, and now they bow and pray.

Colo̞̖̣̼̞͇͙̦̼͙̰red has Ŝ͍͎̞̫̗ͦͮͫ̌U̪͕̥͔̹̟͍̘͔͋͗͆ͨ̍̆ͫ̍̈́F̪̥͚̍̈́̍F̳͕͇̲͛̈̋̉Ĕ̓̓ ̂ͮ̄̉̅̏̋̃̇Rͮ̅Ẽ͓̤͓͈͂͌͋D 4 damage to Ṗ̫̖̱̞̥̫̙͉̺̿͊́ͯͣ̑̈̊͐ͅU̦̜͖͚̠̣̹̳̫̻̼̐̒͒̇̎ͧ̍ͧͯͩ͆R͒ͦ̅̎͌ ̰̩̺̱̼͖͚̲͖͎͉̫̲͈̐ͪ̐̏̈́̄́̊͋Ỉ͊͋ͥ̾̄ͩ͂͂͒̇̈̄̃TY.

…

You wake up… mumbling. Unconsciously, unwillingly, you find yourself almost on autopilot…

“seeps into all of us… eat your guilt… a dream of my own design… a nightmare no one escapes from…”

You gasp. You cannot control what you are saying.

“…to become the thing you seek to kill…” you moan… not even sure if the words you utter from your own mouth are your own.

But you stop. Stop before mentioning the name of Edifice. Finally, you can control yourself again and you feel yourself unbound by this horrendous presence…

Before you, the mural has collapsed. The entire wall is in pieces, now spilled out before you as if an explosive went off and made the wall crumble. The sight surprises you for a moment, but then you notice the individual pieces of the wall and the mural that was once depicted.

Before the wall crumbled, the mural… it changed. It no longer depicts the Blaziken father with Jackia and Sal. You pick up a few of the pieces as if looking at a giant concrete jigsaw puzzle, but the depiction… what was on that mural before it collapsed… had changed.

You almost weep in desperation and panic when you realize what the new mural was before it crashed to the ground and what it would look like if you tried to put it back together.

Now it depicts YOU. You… in your hideous chimera-like body, and the world burning around you in a hellish landscape bathed in madness and deranged psychosis. But now even that is in pieces. But you’re actually thankful, because you don’t want to see what the end result looks like.

You toss the pieces aside, genuinely hoping no one ever tries to put this back together. But where the mural once was, there’s now an empty, black cavity, revealing a mysterious alcove that was sealed by the now-collapsed wall. You move your snake-like body to climb over the pile of concrete fragments to see something was sealed into this alcove.

What you see looks like a very old cup with artistic engravings on it, an artisan ritual knife, a strange voodoo-like figurine, and an old armband that looks like it has blood stains on it. All of these items look to be ancient and very old, as if they were supposed to be in a museum or part of someone’s personal collection.

You’re not sure why these were put here, but it almost seems like they were sealed in here… to prevent someone from finding them, as if they were trying to sweep something under the rug and hide it without destroying it. Someone… Edifice most likely… hid these here, perhaps unable to destroy them… but fearful that they might be used against them… whoever they are.

You take them with you, not sure how, where, and if these can be used somehow, but something about them seems mysterious and you strongly feel there has to be a reason why these were hidden here.

[Ancient Chalice], [Ceremonial Knife], [Occult Figurine], and [Bloodstained Armband] were added to the Team Inventory.

Still overwhelmed from what happened, you pick yourself up and head back to Benni’s farmstead, but the whole walk home, you shiver, still seeing glimpses of the horrendous nightmare in your imagination… still checking your body to ensure you’re still a whole and normal Snivy… and that fragments of that dream weren’t taken with you beyond what still dwells in your mind. But thankfully, in terms of the physical real realm, things seem normal…

…It almost feels alarming how what should be normal and neutral feels so sanctifying after what you went through…

Colored the Snivy (S: Grass)

Health: 16/16 | Sanity: 20/20 | Purity: 16/24 | 6/10 Kurosuōbā | Dodge Rate: 40%
Perk: Diplomacy
Reincarnation Forms: Morelull, Palpitoad, Mega Audino, Pidgeot, Cinccino
EQUIPMENT:

• Defense Armor: <Empty>
• Jewelry: <Empty>