memestertrucks | MARCH TDM

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After tumbling through shadow you find yourself in a shrouded, ruined garage. It’s full of shattered windows and broken mechanical equipment, with all sorts of sharp edges to watch out for. Between that are strange symbols scrawled into the ground. Outside is cloudy weather and the beginnings of a storm flickering and rumbling.

Beyond the rundown garage is a rundown gas station surrounded by rolling, grassy hills. Close by is a Convoy of vehicles, either parked or driving up to station.

01: SUMMONING CIRCLE

This time the summoning circle and car garage is attached to retro diner, and an old wind turbine, barely still spinning and providing fading power. There’s also a broken radio playing a message about Nirvana and imploring people to head north. In fact, there’s a large amount of broken electric equipment in here and spitting sparks.

A fan circles overhead, stirring those sparks and creating a breeze. Trails of paper are attached to the fan, spinning lazily about. If Drifters choose, they can easily retrieve those paper talismans with little more than a slight static shock. While the paper is tattered and smeared with ink and blood, the following can be made out: “Broken in two […] Nothing to lose-“ “Moon mourns, call her down, ease her pain-“ “Need […] Better vessels from afar. Stronger souls-“ “Imbue with moon sigils, Give blessings of moon, share her pain. Put the ritual right.”

Hard to say what that all means, but it seems to have something to do with the summoning circle here. And there’s lingering power crackling through the building. The sort that makes the lights flash and flicker… And line up eerily with flashes of thunder on the horizon.

02: START UP 

New arrivals will have a similar experience to before; a Convoy waiting outside for them, and a collection of vehicles, one of which feels like it belongs to them. The key to the vehicle may already be in the ignition, on the dashboard… It may have even been on their person, ever since they woke up in that garage. Either way, Drifters have the keys to the vehicle now.

…But there’s a few rough edges on these vehicles. Flat tires, cracked windows and mirrors, maybe some stuck doors and locks; all of them requires two pairs of hands and supplies. The garage can take care of the supplies… Now it’s just a matter of finding some extra hands.

03: STORM WARNING

There’s something odd in the sky; it shifts between a dark cloud, and a collection of birds. As the thing draws closer, it clearly becomes a mix of both. Car-sized, dark feathered birds and skeletal avians fly in a thundering flock, and turn the sky stormy in their wake. That alone is bad… But what’s worse is how the shiny chrome of the Convoy and vehicles draws the birds. As they dive towards the ground to snatch at the shiny metal, they pull the storm and bring a tornado with them. The Convoy does its best to anchor to the ground, but lighter vehicles and Drifters might not be so lucky.

The garage and diner takes it worst of all: the electric devices start spitting sparks and can even act as homing beacons for lightning strikes if a Drifter with electric abilities gets too close to them. Any remaining, intact windows shatter as the storm winds pick up, pelting Drifters with razor shards. And water starts pouring in, further shorting electric equipment and soaking anyone to the bone. There’s even a strange droning, siren like noise to warn about the storm and cut into one’s hearing. It’s difficult conditions for anyone caught up in the blow-out.

04: WEATHERING

Once the main force of the storm hits, the following happens:
Diversion: Those with Fast cars can drive away from the station and divert the birds. They’ll want a second Drifter to come along; either to snipe at the pursuing birds, or keep eyes on the terrain! Eventually the birds will tire or get culled enough that the storm disperses.
Updraft: There is the risk of getting swept up in the tornado winds. Damage, injuries… And a particular quirk this storm has. Drifters who spend more than a minute in the storm winds will find that they begin to take on traits from the Harpy monster. These traits increase in potency if the Drifter experiences hunger or violence. As the weather clears and days become calmer, the traits fade.
Downburst: If Drifters get slammed into the ground by the storm, or the dark birds flying about. They may also find themselves drenched with rain. Any injury they take mends quickly, but is replaced with scales, as the Drifters begin to resemble a Naga monster. These changes grow worse if they tell lies, but disperse with the storm.
BIRDS: The birds themselves are vicious: those afflicted with Naga traits are seen as prey, while Harpies are seen as rivals. The birds are deadly, but also clumsy if forced to the ground. The screens on the Convoy recommend crippling the wings before finishing the bird off on the ground.

04: MONSTER SHIFT, NAGA

This month, Drifters will have access to the serpentine Naga. On top of all Naga species traits being available, the following occurs:
+Cold Blooded: the rain and storms can potentially make Naga slow and sluggish, or inclined to sleep or seek out other heat sources to gain energy; this includes basking in body heat from others!
+Water Divert: With their water shaping, Naga can divert falling rain and even ground saturation to make the area or other Drifters more dry. They can also concentrate water into different areas, and can also change water into mist or ice.
+Blue shift: the scales of Naga become more vibrantly blue, or a strange mottled combination of blue and stormy gray, the more intense the rains become. These scale colors can also reflect their moods.
+Extra arms that are painful and disorienting to grow, and can result in coordination issues.
+Scale Pains: Pain and discomfort when scales grow in, as well as fangs or talons!
+Water glide: during floods from the rains, Naga find they can easily traverse deep water as though they were simply walking (or slithering) across it.
+Thermal vision, making it easy to track others in the middle of storms. Vision may also become disorienting, and eyes become slitted.

04: MONSTER SHIFT, HARPY

The storm will bring a second monster this month, in the form of Harpy. On top of all Harpy species traits being active, the following occurs:
+Storm Rider: high agility and capable of flying through the storm winds without hindrance. Even tornadoes can be mastered!
+Feather pains: itching, or full pain when growing feathers or wings. Talons may also be painful when growing from fingers or from feet.
+Wind Affinity: able to shape wind, including diverting the worst of the storm winds, or summon and focus wind into razors.
+Warbling Voice: words may waver and slip into something more songlike, or even a damaging sonic scream if emotions are heightened.
+Height Call: a need to get higher into the air, whether through perching on buildings or the convoy, or through flight. A sense of euphoria as they go higher.
+Nest Building: a compulsion to create a nest out of spare and soft objects, and feeling more safe inside that space.
+Heightened vision like a bird of prey, able to pick out details even at great distance. This may be disorienting at first, as vision becomes telescopic.

05: RAIN, SHINE, OR SALVAGE

Upon culling enough birds, the storm disperses. The monster avians dissolve as they drop into streams of energy, feeding into Drifter Sigils and providing limited healing. And handful remain intact when they hit the ground and can be harvested for meat, feathers, and possibly even talons.

There is one extra problem, in the form of falling debris. After being pulled up into the sky, wreckage (and possibly stray Drifters) are going to drop back down. It’s advised to look out for falling objects and people. It might be possible to salvage something in the form of scrap metal for any vehicle repairs, but such a task requires two.

06: STORM SHOT 

The storm can be dispersed in one of two ways. One is waiting the storm out. The second is a battered collection of machines melted into the roof of the garage and gas station. When touched they burn the hands of Drifters, but also fire a jolt of lightning into the storm. One shot lessens the effects of the storm, repeated shots completely disperses the weather.

In the aftermath of the storm, something different rains from the sky in the form of glowing, quicksilver feathers. These feathers can suppress one avian or serpentine trait for a month, and can also drain away any Naga or Harpy changes from the event completely.

Alternately, the feathers will allow Drifters to temporarily access flight for one day. Doing so completely robs the feather of its magic: only one effect can be chosen from a feather.

MICRO ENCOUNTERS:

PLEASE NOTE! These are small bits of set dressing for players to include in threads if they wish, rather than full fledged prompts or events. You may handwave your exploration of these areas, or thread them out.

Windy Days: Preceding the storm are gales of strong winds, enough to stagger Drifters or send them staggering into other people or other vehicles.

Diner Is Served: While the retro diner attached to the garage has only limited food stores, curiously there is a respectable amount of cooking equipment that can be plundered. Portable stoves, pots and pans, spoons, and the like are all available for the taking.

Fading Storm: In the aftermath of the storm, the garage and diner look like they’re on their last legs, barely held up by their shelving. Anyone who wants to try salvaging had better move fast and carefully, before the entire thing comes crashing down.

NAVIGATION || RESERVES || APPLICATIONS

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"Oh, no, I don't need it lifted, but-- oh. My." Steve has maybe already lifted the back end of the VW bus up a little, from where Jack had been underneath it trying to secure his new armor plating to the undercarriage, and he's left staring a little. "You are, er, very strong," he comments inanely.

"Sorry. Too much?"

Of course, the bus stays exactly as high as it had been lifted, because he's not about to just drop it back down on the guy.

He offers a smile that is approaching sheepish. "I guess I am. I was just trying to help - what are you doing under there?"

Okay, he probably can't help with anything technical, but he won't know until he finds out.

"Attaching metal plating. It's armor, to make it harder for monsters to--"

Jack slides out from under the van so he can see who is actually hefting his entire damn van, and he stops mid-sentence to gape at him.

"Steve Rogers?" he squeaks after a beat.

Well. Damn. Steve's got enough self-control that the bumper does not dent under his grip. But his fingers flex a little like he wishes he could let them dig in.

Instead, he keeps his face and voice friendly, offering a grin that's not quite sheepish, he's a little too wary, but it's bordering on it.

"That's me, yeah."

No point in denying it when he's got the guys bus in his hands.

"I think you're the first person who's recognized me."

At least the first person to say so, for sure.

"Please put my van down," Jack suggests, sitting up and holding up his hands-- one of them still with a wrench in it-- peaceably and with a charmingly crooked smile. "And if no one else has, well, maybe we're the only two people from our universe here."

Wow, Captain America. Right there, about to crush his van's bumper.

"I promise I will not be too weird about it," he adds. "I was just. Er. Surprised."

"Oh - right. Sure." Steve sets said van down, once it's clear he won't squish anyone or anything by doing so.

Of course, now that there's nothing else to focus on, he's got to focus on what the guy just said. "Right. From our universe." Because there had definitely been the equivalent of a memo, and he had received it, and this is still all very strange. "I think I'd like to stop waking up places I don't recognize, one of these days."

It really should not happen to him this often.

He shakes his head, though, because - well. "Old habits die hard. I keep expecting people to recognize me. It's almost comforting, that you actually did. Now I can stop waiting for it to happen."

He crouches down now, trying to peer under the van. "You said you're adding armor? They get under the cars, too?"

"Well, right now I am adding the bolts and bars that will keep the armor plating on without tearing off the windows and doors with its weight. It fastens under here. I think." He hopes he's doing it right. He's generally handy, but this is a bigger project than he's ever tried before, and it feels more important to be making a modification to his car.

"If it helps," he adds, "I have woken up many places I do not recognize, and this was still a bit distressing. Probably not for quite as good of a reason as you, though." He knows the story. He might, in fact, have seen the terrible musical about it once when passing through New York.

Steve hums, following said bolts and bars along the body of the van. It seems like a sound plan, at least, though his opinion is far from professional.

He huffs out a little laugh, though, shrugging one shoulder. "I mean, depending on who you're talking to, your reasons were probably better." Jack, after all, had probably planned on waking up, most of those times at least. He assumes.

Steve had been at least partly running away. And that had been the wrong, wrong move. Of course it had.

He shakes himself out of that unpleasant reverie and glances back to the van. "You guys run into a lot of things that try to take chunks out of your van, then?" He is definitely getting that idea.

"Sometimes we try to take chunks out of each other's vans," Jack sighs. "But yes. There are no people on this world that we have found, yet. Only monsters that might once have been people, that just want to kill us, mostly. Some of them might once have been animals. I keep catching things that might have been rabbits, but also might have been partridges, but also might have been snakes?"

He shakes his head. "Also robots, which also want to kill us. I am sorry, Mr. Rogers, but this is not a very safe world you have landed in." Though he supposes if there's anyone from his world he'd want here, besides Ted, it'd be Captain America.

Steve's eyebrows rise significantly at that. "That seems... counterproductive," he points out, but what really gets his attention is the idea of no other people here at all - or, really, no people here anymore, because they've turned into something else.

He's still mulling that over when that last bit makes him laugh a little, if only because, "I'd say safe is overrated, but I think it's more that I'm not really all that used to it."

Sure, it's only been a few years, between the war and the Avengers and HYDRA, but it's been a long few years, comparatively.

"Robots trying to kill me are old hat. Monsters are new, but - do you remember the aliens?" If they're from the same place, after all, he must. "I figure it can't be all that different from that."

"He asks me if I remember the aliens," Jack mutters, mostly in jest. Then, with a wry smile, he says, "Yes, Mr. Rogers, I remember the aliens. These are... possibly comparable? Some of them. The alligator-things, certainly. But."

He waves the wrench a little at the room at large. He is, in fact, rather free with his gestures when he talks. "We are turning into monsters, too. Sort of. Some of us. Sometimes we lose control of ourselves. That is a concern, Mr. Rogers, having to maybe eventually fight each other."

Yes he is still being slightly weird, but do you really call the oldest superhero by his first name without permission? Even if you are, in fact, older than the oldest superhero...?

Steve's mouth twitches and he's already taking Jack's answer as a yes before it's explicitly stated.

But any attempts at a smile, voluntary or involuntary, die pretty quickly when Jack explains they're turning into monsters. That they might have to fight each other. That... really doesn't bode well.

"You think you'll - we'll - all be at each other's necks, eventually?" he asks, though in a tone that says he's pretty sure he already knows what the answer will be. "You said 'some of us' - so it's not everyone?"

If there's something different about the people who are, versus the people who aren't...

"The going theory is that all or most of the original people in this world turned into monsters, and the reason the remaining ones are summoning people from other worlds is, er, in the hopes that we will resist," Jack explains, a little apologetically. "And there's only been a couple incidents."

He scrubs at the back of his head, scratching behind one ear awkwardly. Can he confess his own status to Captain America? Well, if anyone is likely to be able to stop him, Captain America would be... but it seems so awful to confess to being a mindless beast once a month to a hero.

"This world has not done that to me yet, but I have my own... issues," he says at last.

Steve's mouth thins into an unhappy line at that, but it makes a certain amount of sense, based on what little he knows. And clearly Jack knows more, has been here longer.

He can't help but wonder if there's more to it than that, but - well. There's only so much they can do with the evidence in front of them, until there's more.

That line grows into more of a concerned frown. "Are you all right?" Issues is a pretty damn vague term, and maybe that's intentional, but it's not like Steve can help asking, all the same.

"Oh, I'm fine," Jack hastily assures him. "Right now. Um." He looks vaguely embarrassed, but he is trying to be more open. There is no good reason to keep it a secret here. It's just such a long-ingrained habit, and also it's Captain America. "You might not know this, but our world has werewolves. Not very many, but a few. I am, er, one of them. So I am fine right now! But if there is a moon warp I will try to be very far away from the convoy before I change."

He shrugs. Really, all of that came with a handful of gestures, he is not good at holding still when he speaks. Or at all, really. "I was like this for a very long time before I came here. But other people here are turning into... similar-ish things. So I am hoping my experience can help."

"I... had not known that, no," Steve admits, but with the steady tone of someone who isn't questioning what he's been told. God, no - there have been aliens and gods (or, at least, aliens posing as gods) and sentient computer programs and - you know what, werewolves don't seem all that unreasonable or surprising at all, in that context.

But there's also the rest of what Jack says, about the things happening to people here, and he nods. "You're probably the closest thing any of us have to an expert," he admits, although there's an uncomfortable twisting in his stomach. "I don't know if it will affect me, too. I guess it depends on why it's happening."

He's assuming, of course, the serum is still working in every respect. And the storm hasn't hit yet, to prove that he is not immune to whatever's going on.

"Do we know when a moon warp is likely to happen?" he asks, because if Jack needs help getting away - well, that's a problem they can solve, at least.

"No," Jack says, looking a little hang-dog. "We had a bit of warning last time. The convoy stopped at an old radio station and it broadcast ahead of time that it was coming. The convoy radio also broadcast it. But I do not think we can always count on that, either." He is concerned. He has people who can stop him, he knows, but they aren't always with him.

He looks up, in the direction of the broken moon, just barely visible through the open garage doors. "We think it is tied to the moon. The changes everyone else goes through, not just us. There was some kind of, I don't know, cult I think? We only have a few pieces of information but they all talk about changes related to the moon breaking."

Steve nods, frowning in thought. It seems to make sense, as much as anything does - although it's a shame there isn't a regular schedule to serve as warning. "If there's anything I can do to help you, let me know. I could probably wrestle you away if it came to that, although I hope it doesn't."

But also, "You probably are the person here with the most experience, if any of that's true." His smile is both a little sympathetic and a little grateful. "And the convoy's looking for more information?"

"We are. We want to know where we are going as much as anyone would," Jack agrees, nodding. "There is not a lot to be found. The runes." He gestures at the one on his own forearm, pulling his sleeve up to show it. "They are in other places, too. And they can be combined, but doing to hurts whoever does it? And attracts more monsters. There are the radio broadcasts, and sometimes things written down in places that we can still read like the graffiti, and what we learn from our own changes."

He shrugs helplessly. "It is not enough. But we have only been here about two months. Hopefully there will be more we can learn along the way."

Steve frowns, but his hand goes to his left side, along his ribs - where he's discovered that he has a strange rune, too. Which is - odd, considering he hadn't thought marks like that would even take on him.

But then again... magic, probably. Or whatever else is going on with this world.

"Is the convoy keeping records?" That seems important. And something he might like to see, if so. Even two months of information is better than nothing. And eventually, it won't be just two months.

Edited 2025-04-14 00:36 (UTC)

"Some of us. There is not a lot of paper," Jack sighs. He's been looking without a lot of success, and he's not going to waste fabric for writing on when it could be used for clothes. "The radios keep a log of everything we transmit on them, though, and many of us are keeping records that way."

"I can see how that would be a little more challenging, but that's a good idea." Oral history is better than no history at all.

"Could I listen yours for a while, maybe? When it's convenient."

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MARCH TDM

Car-jacking

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cw: super-mild implied suicidal ideation

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