memestertrucks | JANUARY TDM/EVENT

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The storm drives the Convoy to the very summit of the mountains, before hitting a blinding pitch. The wind howls and drives snow in a way that promises to freeze everything… And there’s also a twist of smoke in the air, to further blind everything.

There’s one thing visible through the storm: a massive fortress clinging to the side of the mountain. The Convoy pulls up into the shelter. It seems this will be the best place to wait out the weather, even if the storm lasts for weeks.

It’s a cold welcome for new arrivals. The garage offers scant protection from the elements, and a winter storm rages outside. Snow, lighting, and thunder all blend together and do their best to break the windows and doors of the structure.

The storm itself shows no signs of abating, at least until several days have passed. So it’s up to the new arrivals to figure out how to survive the storm, find better shelter… And weather the strange changes foisted onto them.

01: SUMMONING CIRCLE

New Drifters arrive to a cold and half frozen garage, almost swallowed up by snow drifts. The Convoy is just visible through sheets of snow falling from the skies, and it is parked in the shelter of a nearby fortress. Getting out of the garage and reaching the fortress will take some work, though.

Starting with digging out through the snow. At least there’s a shovel or two inside the garage and the gas station. But digging through the snow is still cold work, and it’s imperative to duck back in the garage and find ways to warm up.

There’s still a small fire burning in the corner of the garage, near the summoning circle. It curiously doesn’t seem to need fuel to keep burning… Though throwing more on it will certainly increase the heat of the flames. Be advised that the fire will also burn clothing and flesh if a Drifter gets too close to it.

02: FORTRESS 

The abandoned fortress offers some reprieve from the elements… But the prior battles have found a way to seep into the stones. Ice and Fire both have an effect on the surroundings.
+FIRE Condition: Arcane lava is flowing through the foundations and seeping up through the stones of the building. This is especially clear in the kitchen and dining hall. It may be toasty to the touch, but it also threatens to set things aflame; objects and people alike. Drifters weak to fire will suffer from the increased temperatures.
+ICE Condition: The extremes of the fortress are freezing over in enchanted ice, leaving only the main hall and kitchen with any heat. Drifters who lack ice affinity risk frost bite and hypothermia while exploring the other areas of Bastion. Direct contact with the ice also carries a risk of encasing the limb or the entire Drifter in ice. Might need some help getting chipped out.

In the midst of all this, there are still rooms and beds available for those who want a change of pace from the convoy, or bedrolls for those who want to camp out in the main hall.

03: START UP

After digging out, one can see that there are various cars surrounding the garage. Some of them parked directly outside and sheltered from the worst of the storm. But a few are further out, and will also need to be dug out of the snow.

There’s also a certain connection between different newcomers and cars. Something that suggests a particular vehicle is theirs, backed up by possessing the key to that vehicle. 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 the sort of thing that 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.

04: WILD ELEMENTS

Even when taking shelter in the fortress, the storms from outside have a way of seeping through the bricks. And trying to take root inside any Drifters. Cold mists and winds seep into the castle, along with fire traveling across the floors and lightning crashing against the roof.

Drifters exposed to extreme elements will find those same elements seeping into their blood.

Teeth also grow along portions of the walls in long fangs, ready to snag at any newcomers. Drawing blood on those teeth can result in changes in the new arrivals… As well as pulling a monster out of the hallway to try and draw more blood.

These monsters frequently manifest as:
+Gyuki, a spider and bull demon fusion.
+YinYang, a Frankenstein abomination
+And Malzeno, a strange eldritch dragon.

05: FUEL PUMPS

The fortress also holds a network of pipes leading through the halls and connecting to the gas station. Text from the Convoy asks for at least a few Drifters to follow the pipes to their source, and activate them. Following those pipes leads to a chamber in the base of the fortress, with basins full of liquid.

Glowing and quicksilver liquid, at that. Liquid that looks like it could have been poured straight out of the moon. An inscription on the tanks reads “Moonshard fuel refinement” while a stack of papers details the various attempts to distill moonshards into an energy usable by humans without mutating them. It seems they’ve mostly succeeded with this attempt: once the valves are turned on, the fuel can be pumped into the Convoy and top off almost depleted fuel tanks.

But there is still a risk. Coming into contact with the fuel can instill a sudden, ravenous hunger and push new changes to the front. Prolonged exposure activates all traits at once, and will only revert the person when another monster has been hunted down, and their energy absorbed.

06: IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK

The walls of Bastion reach an impressive 20 feet up and stretch for long distances… And have Husks merged into them, often in the hallways and occasionally in the rooms. The Husks clearly belong to either the Silver Tear or the Steel Wardens, given the insignias on them. Many of them are locked together, frozen in a fight. And their last words and thoughts are written on the walls in gold and silver script.

Most of the words are frantic, about defending the moon shards from heretics or freeing the moon shards from confinement. But if any of the words are read aloud, the Husks react by merging together and spawning a berserk heavy tank/tankceratops. Or a large Burner type monster. OR a dragon dinosaur with exploding, punching fists. Drifters may also get caught up in the monster changes, and fuse their own monster forms together!

07: MONSTER FUSE

An element saturation isn’t the only strange thing in the fortress. Anyone who makes contact with the fortress stones will find themselves building a resonance with a fellow Drifter. This grows stronger the more time they spend in the fortress.

Until finally the bond solidifies on the next change the Drifters go through and hits a fever pitch. The next threat they encounter WILL force a transformation. When that happens, their next change fuses their two monster forms together into something new.

Their fusion form is a combination of two Drifter’s traits. It is also twice the size it would normally be, and is well suited to taking on any giant sized monsters. It can even give Drifters a brief insight into the memories of their partner, as the fusion takes place.

When this happens, both Drifters can switch control over their merged form. Those with greater synchronism will have more control, while those who squabble and fight will find that their monster form becomes more feral and savage. This fusion lasts until the threat abates: when that happens, the fusion breaks apart, and Drifters return to their prior state.

08: STORM CALL

There’s something outside that isn’t just the storm; it calls out in a howl that can make the blood run cold, and also pulls at one’s feet. Until it hits a point where the Bastion doesn’t feel like a restful place. Drifters who hear the storm call need to step outside and find the source; the storm itself isn’t particular on if they search on their own feet, or behind some wheels.

Drifters who travel on their own feet will swiftly be overwhelmed by the storm, and a moon warp hiding in the snow, and forced to transform. It doesn’t help that there’s wild saber-tooth Barioth wyverns prowling the wilds and ready to pounce.

Being inside a vehicle helps to shield them from the worst of the storm and the changes, and also gives Drifters more traversal options:
Tough cars are capable of wading through even the deepest snow without getting bogged down, as well as towing any stricken or stuck vehicles out of the drifts.
Fast vehicles can follow rivers of fire and lava that move through the wilds, without burning up due to prolonged exposure.

Eventually Drifters will find their way towards the summit of the mountain, and the discovery waiting beyond.

09: MONSTER CHANGES

Between the weird fuel, the teeth in the fortress, and hostile elements trying to force changes, new arrivals can quickly find their humanity getting worn away and new monster transformations taking place.
With the cold weather and regal structures, the environment calls out to Undead. As long as the elements rage, all Undead traits are available and also:
+Warm Blood: Undead can easily track living bodies through the wilds and the fortress, sensing the warmth of their blood in contrast to the storm.
+Rivalry: Tends to form rivalry with other Undead monsters, becoming territorial and protective of potential food sources.
+Ice Affinity: Undead find themselves better preserved by the cold and thriving in it, energized and strengthened by the snow, and even taking on glowing blue veins and eyes.
+Fire Fear: The presence of fire inspires aversion, and even terror and need to flee from it. Smaller flames like candles provoke unease, larger flames like a bonfire result in more panic.
+Holy Symbols: Presence of Steel Warden symbols (a sword piercing moon) can cause unease in Undead, and even repel them a location.
+Snow Shift: Exposure to snow forces the Undead into a more bestial form. This could resemble a bat, wolf, or deer/horse/bull.

10: FROZEN HEART

At the summit of the mountains is a collection of freakishly tall and twisted trees. In their branches is a collection of frozen hearts growing like strange fruit. And further up is a massive object that looks like a deer skull with branching antlers. The ice storm flows from its eyes and mouth… And it shows no signs of ceasing without destroying the skull.

The frozen hearts are giving off a cold aura that freezes anything that doesn’t resist ice. Drifters will need to neutralize the hearts to dispel the cold aura. The hearts can be melted by fire, shot down with ranged weapons, magic, etc. When burned, the hearts give off a smoke that causes a terrible hunger and need to hunt in anyone who inhales it. Shattered heart shards also rain down and embed themselves in Drifters, and cause a berserk fury in those they cut.

But with each felled heart the barrier of the skull weakens, as does the storm. When the last of the frozen hearts falls, the storm skull fractures and breaks apart like brittle ice. Drifters can deliver the finishing blows, ending the storm in the process. After that, the way down the mountain becomes clear, and the Convoy may continue down without worry.

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.

Fortress Library: Books and screens seem to have fused together. Assorted data about monsters is on display here; everything from hunting strategy to contradicting praise of their strength. (Read: all lore information from the monster pages is available IC.)

Dining Hall: This time around the gas station and garage are empty of supplies… But there’s plenty of preserved foods in the castle kitchen and dining hall. Though the hot dishes are almost painfully spicy, and the cold served foods can almost freeze a mouth shut.

Snow Fields: Surrounding the fortress are fields of snow, ready to bog down anyone who wanders too far into them. It would be next to impossible for anyone to make it far on two feet without the aid of a vehicle… Or the aid of a monstrous transformation.

Fire Snow: The storm can wildly swing between temperatures, from freezing to burning with how the snowflakes fluctuate. They can suck warmth out of a Drifter’s body on contact, or risk burning any exposed skin.

Armory: The Steel Wardens kept an armory and arena close by for sparring. Various weapons and armor are stored here; some antiquated, some modern and augmented with technology. And everything but the older models are badly damaged by the elements; frozen over and metal crackled, or half melted from fire. They won’t have much use as weapons, but could be used as metal materials.

View from the Peaks: When the storm clears, one can look out from the peaks and see what’s next. A strange, twisted landscape stretches out below the peaks. And beyond that is something on the horizon; a massive city reaching upwards, and the buildings intact and gleaming. Going back to the Convoy reveals a new update in the database: Nirvana is near. And will be reached in an estimated 60 days from now.

NAVIGATION || RESERVES || APPLICATIONS

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

i. fire condition

[ There's lava coming up through the floors and a giant snake on the ceiling. Well, normal sized by monster standards. But Arcade is still pretty difficult to miss, taking up space on the dining hall ceiling, tail loosely coiled around him as he basks in the rising residual heat from the lava flowing through cracked foundation below him. It's been a cold... while, now, though. And he doesn't fare well in the cold, anymore.

So he's got a book in two of his hands and the other keeping his bag tucked against his side, to keep gravity from dragging it right off over his head. And it's lucky there's a fourth arm free, because he nearly loses his glasses when he looks up (down) with a start to see someone else looking like they might be trying to find a way to circumnavigate those lava-filled faults. ]

Do you need a hand?

[ He may be a desert creature enjoying the heat, but he's not just going to sit back and watch. Unless that's the diplomatic thing to do, here, anyway. ]

ii. fuel pumps

[ Getting as far away from these frigid, horrible mountains as fast as humanly possible is the only thing he really wants, right now, so for once, Arcade is actually amenable to the Convoy's mysterious requests. Refueling sounds simple enough, anyway, doesn't it?

Of course, he's more use scouring through that research than trying to turn on some ancient, defunct machine. He shuffles rapidly through ancient, yellowed sheets of brittle paper (something he is especially well-equipped for, having had a lifetime of experience picking through ruins like these), skimming most of the mechanical details and perusing the pertinent segments (side effects, past failures, casualties) with intention.

Only the grating, reluctant clunk of rusting machinery turning over drags him back out of it, as his eyes catch on another worrying mention of mutation and exposure— ]

Hey, be careful—

[ But it's too late, by the time he speaks up. Those metal sounds are accompanied by the spatter of mercury-heavy, quicksilver liquid spraying across the floor. As soon as they're on, the pumps have sprung a leak - disuse and time-weathering at work. Or maybe it's several. They'll both be lucky to get away unscathed. ]

iii. storm call

[ Driving in the storm is definitely inadvisable. Flying in it? Probably suicidal. (Especially with his so far limited practice all having been in vastly milder weather.) But getting stuck in the snow seems just as likely a death sentence, out here, so Arcade is splitting the difference.

The truck's heavy enough that the storm winds are no more inconvenient than they would be, on the ground, and the sound of the equally hefty rotors keeping it airborne cut through them, a deeper, constant thunder, as he sweeps cautiously over the unbroken, snowy field. Mostly unbroken. There are shapes down there, lumbering through the blinding white, and only one of them resonates as a fellow drifter. The rest are monsters, circling in - at least until he angles downward, truck-vertibird a more intimidating presence that sends the monsters scattering on his approach. But only for a moment.

His voice is blotted out thoroughly by the sound of the truck and the storm, more thunder crashing overhead, but there's nothing ambiguous about the frantic motion he makes, even through a screen of falling, swirling snow. Hurry up and get in. ]

iv. wildcard

[ arcade can also be found in the convoy's med bay or tending to the plants in his truck, as well as in the fortress poking around the armory and library. he won't be outside much since the cold is very very bad for him rip.

feel free to hit me with a different prompt or pm here/gravejuice to plot something else! ]

[ Danse has something of a complicated relationship with the sound of approaching vertibirds. In his earliest experience with them, they'd been dangerous enemy technology, and then when the Brotherhood had commandeered them, the noise of the propellers had become a source of comfort and relief, safety and rescue and alliance.

Of course, to the foes of the Brotherhood, they'd remained as terrifying and deadly as ever, and they'd been particularly persistent in reminding Danse of that firsthand once he'd become one of those. However untouched his memories of Revan might be, coming back to him in most of the ways that matter when it comes to recalling who people are and how things work and why he has a pair of embarrassing furry ears stuck to the sides of his head, his reflexes and instincts are still halfway stuck in their stasis from home, and when he hears Arcade's truck coming, instinct takes over. He ducks, dives for the nearest snowdrift when it's the only thing that could possibly provide cover for his neon-orange uniform in this endless whiteout--

--and remembers, as the cold shocks him back to his higher senses, that there is only one person with a vertibird here, and that person is Definitely Not Brotherhood. (Or Enclave.) Granted, what Arcade might have to say about someone venturing out into a storm like this probably constitutes its own hazard, but Danse will still gladly take it over...well, any of the alternatives. He climbs out of the snowbank and gets in without further ado, dusting snow off himself and generally starting to melt all over the seat. ]

Thanks. I, uh, wasn't expecting you.

[ Arcade would have had plenty to say about trying to hike through a veritable blizzard on top of a lightning storm - if he weren't already out here doing the exact same thing. Just without the added layer of insanity of doing so on foot. (But it feels like a particularly thin added layer, at that.)

Still, he might've come up with something, even so - if the drifter piling abruptly into the other side of the truck's cockpit, half of that snowdrift he tried to dive on and all, were not familiar in the weirdest kind of way. ]

...I could say the same.

[ The shock doesn't stop him from just as abruptly taking off again, hard enough for the whole truck to rattle in another buffeting gust of howling wind. Shadow-shapes are already circling back outside, though, only barely visible beyond the dim circle of light cast by the headlights (but far too easy to taste on the gasp of that icy wind that fell in with Danse). ]

You know, I'd really appreciate it if you could just tell me now whether or not you're some kind of dangerous hallucination. It might save us some awkwardness.

[ It's only partly an attempt at pale, deflecting humor. ]

[ Danse leans forward in his seat to squint at the seething sea of monsters below, and let himself be even more appropriately grateful for the timely rescue, even if he does entertain a brief wistful wish for a door-mounted minigun to do something about them.

But that would make conversation impossible, and it's a worthy tradeoff, even if he doesn't feel like it's been as long since he last saw Arcade as vice-versa. The reaction would be an understandable enough one regardless. This is not where Danse expected to find himself again either, and his lack of ability to explain what had happened to him or where he's been for two months doesn't render the situation any less in need of explanation. ]

I'm not. I suppose I would be flattered if you were hallucinating me, but I don't know why you would be.

[ He inclines his head vaguely toward the instrument panel, with a faint hint of admiration. ]

You've certainly gotten the hang of this thing, after all.

That makes two of us. But I've seen weirder.

[ And much, much worse, of late. But he doesn't want to talk about phantom deathclaws and new scars barely healed.

His newfound hobby is a much less volatile topic of discussion. Arcade glances at him (the look in his eyes still a mix of uncertainty and surprise and cautious mistrust), before switching his focus sharply back go the frosty expanse of the expanded windshield. Visibility is next to nothing, but only next to. ]

I wasn't going to waste the opportunity. The autopilot did most of the work.

[ It's not exactly an unfamiliar look to be receiving from Arcade. It's most of what Danse remembers, for reasons that usually had more to do with the politics of the world they left and less to do with any of this one's dangerous magic--if only because Arcade was at least willing to talk about the former with him, sometimes. He'd thought they were at least consistently on the same side with the latter, but in a way that only ever got shoved out of sight and out of mind after the fact, as if it had never happened at all.

He gets the sense that he's missing some context here, but that's only to be expected. ]

Still. You fly like a natural.

[ It's a high compliment, from someone who always did think that was one of the coolest hobbies a person could have. Maybe he hadn't been too optimistic to think Arcade would take better to flying than driving, after all. After a moment, he sobers. ]

You don't have to look at me like you've seen a ghost, you know. I can't blame you for...presuming me dead, if I was missing, but all I did was go home.

arcade gannon | fallout: new vegas | naga | current character

storm call

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fire condition

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storm call, both my guys in your inbox

oh nooo how terrible 😏😏

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iii

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with our powers combined...

about to become the worst possible versions of themselves, everybody look out

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