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❅ SHITTY LITTLE TOWN ❅ PART 3
The cracks are starting to show. People have been reforging connections. Rebuilding their senses of self.
Digging into things that are potentially sinister, their curiosity dangerously piqued. Now, too many truths are coming back to the surface for everything to stay suppressed.
Somewhere deep in the MineCorp mines, a wire snaps. Then another, and another.
PROMPTS
a) A CRACK IN THE DAM
A feeling of déjà vu is commonplace, and people’s dreams start to contain more and more imagery that doesn’t align with the lives they know here in this shitty little town – fantastical sleighs, huge golden globes, fae and monsters. Some people stop automatically responding when their name is called, because the name they’re being called feels wrong. Others discover they have talents at skills they don’t remember ever trying before.
But it remains out of reach until they do something that affirms their true self, an act that goes down to the core of who they are. It might be true love’s kiss, or placing a hand on their signature weapon, or invoking certain words when speaking truth to power. One way or another, once that final requirement is met...it all comes flooding back.
A feeling of déjà vu is commonplace, and people’s dreams start to contain more and more imagery that doesn’t align with the lives they know here in this shitty little town – fantastical sleighs, huge golden globes, fae and monsters. Some people stop automatically responding when their name is called, because the name they’re being called feels wrong. Others discover they have talents at skills they don’t remember ever trying before.
But it remains out of reach until they do something that affirms their true self, an act that goes down to the core of who they are. It might be true love’s kiss, or placing a hand on their signature weapon, or invoking certain words when speaking truth to power. One way or another, once that final requirement is met...it all comes flooding back.
b) PUTTING THE PIECES TOGETHER
Your character remembers who they are, but their powers haven’t returned! The nefarious makers of the spell suppressing powers must be defeated. But who are the nefarious makers of the spell?
Several people have several parts of the puzzle. Time to put them together, anonymously, on the network. Skye has taken it upon herself to facilitate a discussion forum online with all accounts highly anonymized and access granted only by a password; details are being spread by word of mouth, friend to friend, always with the warning that just because the accounts are anonymous doesn’t mean that Goluboy or his people couldn’t try to sleuth people’s identities from context clues.
Skye sets a time for when the discussion forum will go live, and at midnight that evening, a website goes live with a simple comment post function and a message that all data will be deleted within 24 hours.
NETWORK LINK
The jig is up!
The source of the curse – and other mischief – is traced to Kyan Goluboy, and Noire Cygne. Confrontation with each of them will trigger counter-attacks and defenses.
Your character remembers who they are, but their powers haven’t returned! The nefarious makers of the spell suppressing powers must be defeated. But who are the nefarious makers of the spell?
Several people have several parts of the puzzle. Time to put them together, anonymously, on the network. Skye has taken it upon herself to facilitate a discussion forum online with all accounts highly anonymized and access granted only by a password; details are being spread by word of mouth, friend to friend, always with the warning that just because the accounts are anonymous doesn’t mean that Goluboy or his people couldn’t try to sleuth people’s identities from context clues.
Skye sets a time for when the discussion forum will go live, and at midnight that evening, a website goes live with a simple comment post function and a message that all data will be deleted within 24 hours.
NETWORK LINK
The jig is up!
The source of the curse – and other mischief – is traced to Kyan Goluboy, and Noire Cygne. Confrontation with each of them will trigger counter-attacks and defenses.
c) CONFRONTING CYGNE
As soon as Cygne is confronted, or receives word from Goluboy that the jig is up, wilis pour into town. Normally, these undead jilted brides will dance to death whoever they get their hands on, but in a hurry they’ll resort to tearing their prey apart. Any person who the wilis get their hands on will be overwhelmed by an empathetic sense of their grief, shame, and hatred, and control of their body will be taken over as they are swept into the deadly dance.
The wilis are strong against physical violence, but can be burned by sunlight, or artificial growlights. People dancing with wilis can be pulled out of their embrace and pulled to safety, but only those with formal dance training stand a chance of changing the course of the deadly waltz, once touched.
The sheriff’s department forms the final level of defense around Noire Cygne’s mansion and person. Get past the chaos of the wilis throughout town, and Sheriff Mallard and her deputies stand between your heroes and the town matriarch.
As soon as Cygne is confronted, or receives word from Goluboy that the jig is up, wilis pour into town. Normally, these undead jilted brides will dance to death whoever they get their hands on, but in a hurry they’ll resort to tearing their prey apart. Any person who the wilis get their hands on will be overwhelmed by an empathetic sense of their grief, shame, and hatred, and control of their body will be taken over as they are swept into the deadly dance.
The wilis are strong against physical violence, but can be burned by sunlight, or artificial growlights. People dancing with wilis can be pulled out of their embrace and pulled to safety, but only those with formal dance training stand a chance of changing the course of the deadly waltz, once touched.
The sheriff’s department forms the final level of defense around Noire Cygne’s mansion and person. Get past the chaos of the wilis throughout town, and Sheriff Mallard and her deputies stand between your heroes and the town matriarch.
d) CONFRONTING GOLUBOY
Destroying the torture machine hidden hidden in MineCorp will end the curse and restore all powers. Too bad everyone will have to sneak past mine workers and security guards who’ve been promised a big fat bonus for bringing your characters alive and restrained to Goluboy’s office. As the man himself would say, nothing makes a person work harder than money. Some of the wilis have made their way into the mines as well...
Destroying the torture machine hidden hidden in MineCorp will end the curse and restore all powers. Too bad everyone will have to sneak past mine workers and security guards who’ve been promised a big fat bonus for bringing your characters alive and restrained to Goluboy’s office. As the man himself would say, nothing makes a person work harder than money. Some of the wilis have made their way into the mines as well...
e) AFTERMATH
The villains have been defeated!
What will your heroes do with them? Can any of their past victims still be saved? It’s time to convene and pass judgement on your captors, and check that every I is dotted and every T is crossed.
The villains have been defeated!
What will your heroes do with them? Can any of their past victims still be saved? It’s time to convene and pass judgement on your captors, and check that every I is dotted and every T is crossed.
❅ Event Length: This part of the plot will last until 10/15, and the situation with the npcs are meant to be resolved by then, though general CR threads can continue to be backtagged after that.
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"So we're assuming we're working with someone who understands the Warren enough to know how valuable it is." Dan raises an eyebrow and takes a sip of wine. "What was the giveaway? Just how desperate he was to run you out?"
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In the meantime, they've got other angles to this problem to approach. He toys with Dan's fingers, smiling despite the danger they're in. "True love's kiss, huh?" he murmers. "What kind of fairy tale are we in?"
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A more venal or persuadable version of Bunny would have been disaster for everyone, but Dan doesn't think that version of Bunny exists. Not his, not the one that lived in this universe and got captured, not in any universe. It feels like having an iron spine and a decent set of priorities is almost as close to Bunny's center as hope itself.
"One with a happy ending, I hope." Dan kneads his free hand into the blankets in a self-soothing motion. "Already been enough people died here. Let's see we keep it to as little bloodshed as possible. I'm worried about the power players, obviously, but I'm worried as much about the townsfolk and whether folks will consider them an acceptable loss."
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Bunny frowns as he considers that they've already observed one death.
"That miner who died, and the company wouldn't retrieve his body. Could have been what they said, but I don't trust Goluboy any more than I'd trust Kuk. I had a talk with that lawyer of his and we both realized Cygne's companies are the only ones getting food into and out of town, if she's not just producing it out of thin air. I think it'd take them both to pull off this curse. Could anyone else be a power player?"
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"Can't couldn't be Mallard and the deputies. I'd have could heard them during my drunk tank stints. They're clueless patsies at worst." Dan suspects even Mallard doesn't have any idea what her mother's up to, but is just so used to not asking questions and being obedient to survive in that household that she's embraced being complicit in whatever horrible thing it is. "Don't no one else here got enough money, but they always might could be getting resources just for themselves from outside or have a benefactor."
Which is one of the many reasons Dan wants to make sure Cygne and Goluboy don't get murdered first thing. There's far too much about this that the myths don't understand. But also, Dan's thoughts are full of bloody, death-soaked memories, and it's cowed him to feeling as gentle as he's ever felt. He doesn't want to have to witness any death today.
no subject
He meets Dan's eye. "We can do our best to keep civilians alive. The sooner we get the new recruits' memories back and in the team mindset again I think the easier that'll be."
Unfortunately -
"Neither of us have a lot of social capital under the spell. That was probably on purpose." He lies back, looking at the ceiling, thinking. "I don't know how they're powering the curse, and I don't know how to break it here, but they wouldn't have all these resources tied into keeping people from leaving town if the curse didn't have a radius. Think about how well things would work out for them if they could just let us Guardians go ambling out into the world with no memories and no powers. There's got to be a limit to how far this curse spreads. The best way for me to do what I can do right now is to get past it, so I can get help from the pole or come back at full power."
There's a significant distance between them and whatever the limits of the curse are. Bunny's used to running long distances; but not like this. Not in this body.
Fortunately, the human body is designed for long distances. Not at the speed he enjoys in his own body, but this one is still a distance runner, and Bunny is in it and unwilling to quit.
This is going to mean leaving Dan to his own devices, though, as evil memories pour in and ruin his day.
"I know you don't have the sort of social capital you usually have here, but can you work on it while I'm gone?" he rolls over, keeping his hand on Dan's shoulder.
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And so he's retreating to that. He didn't know who he was for months, and now he doesn't know if he's okay, but he does know his internal moral compass, and like a sailor who navigates by the north star, he chooses that to set his bearing on. He trusts in that, and he trusts in Bunny.
"I'll do my damnedest." He doesn't let go of Bunny; if Bunny's about to run off to save the day, Dan wants to cling until that separation actually has to happen. "I'll have more social capital with the folks who already remember I'm a delightful little snack of a person. What do you reckon about Oathing these folks? I reckon we might could lure Goluboy if you said you were open to negotiating for the land."
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How good is it to know him again, to realize why the aching sense of loss in him didn't feel like a whole missing family, felt more like a specific person or three, now that he has his purpose and his people back.
He snuggles Dan close. "That's a great idea. You get him locked in the basement, I'll oath him the minute I get back. He's only one piece of the puzzle, though. How much more don't we know?"
Bunny cuddles Dan close while he thinks.
"Those corpse brides in the woods. Think Goluboy put them there?"
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"It'll give me an opportunity to wheedle information out of him. That's what we're really missing here. We got a few connections and a lot of guesswork, but we don't really know what we're dealing with or what's at stake." Dan softly drums his fingertips on Bunny's chest. "I'd reckon Cygne before Goluboy on the brides. They seem more her design."
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He rubs Dan's arm and winds his fingers through Dan's hair.
"Well, we can account for Stacia and Elle, but I'm worried about Elle at a minimum," he mutters. "Who else is here? I think I've seen Goluboy's lawyer at the Pole before, and down the road there's a raisin farm where the astronaut works, and you've already made contact with Miguel. Is anyone in immediate trouble?"
Trouble like Dan was, potentially about to freeze to death behind a diner, if the person Bunny was stuck being hadn't seen fit to do anything helpful.
"Sorry I was so mean to you, by the way," he says, tilting Dan's forehead up for a kiss. "Back when I thought you were a kidnapper."
He doesn't want to think much about how badly this curse could have gone for Dan, and how badly that would have been for him, if he'd ever found some way besides True Love's Kiss to get himself out of the curse. Waking up to find that his true love had frozen to death behind a diner would have ruined the next several hundred years for him. He'd have struggled to be at his best for the battle against Kuk.
"We can't rule out that Goluboy and Cygne are in Kuk's pocket too. Maybe that's where they're getting their raw power, whoever they are." He frowns. "I don't know why I can't figure out who they are. Something about Goluboy is ringing a bell, but I don't know which one."
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He grins. "Oh, you know, you only almost made me cry at the farmer's market. Ain't no big thing."
Dan racks his brain. "The Black Swan, maybe? Cygne. I ain't got nothing for Goluboy but someone stewarding this much magic might could be non-human. We should might keep our eyes peeled for fae trickery or demonic contracts."
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"I don't know a black swan," he mutters, rather than revisit one of the ways this curse hammered a pretty successful wedge between him and the love of his life. It was temporary. They found each other all over again. It feels just now like nothing can stop them spinning back together.
"Like I said, this feels fairy tale. Goluboy and Cygne could be tulpas from retellings of real stories, or they could be fae nobility - some of the courts care a lot about legality. Less about jurisdiction. His bid to get me to sign away the Warren wouldn't make me give it to him, but him having a piece of paper that says I gave it to him might have gotten him allies willing to defend his claim. After we get out of this, after all the mortals are safe, I need to find out who he's working with. Or wanted to."
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"The Black Swan is Tchaikovsky. Swan Lake. Russian folklore, if I recall correct. It's ballet, which would fit in with some of what we saw." Dan bites his lip. "I remember the music better than I remember the story, but if she's the Black Swan Goluboy might could be Rothbart. But Goluboy means blue in Russian, per what I learned from North."
He gives Bunny another squeeze, because thinking about how he knows Swan Lake reminds him of his mother, and all he can think of her now is her corpse pinned to the kitchen wall, entrails hanging down like feathers and beads on some sort of sick dreamcatcher. He feels sick. He tries to let it pass.
"We need to keep folks' anger from stopping us getting information from Cygne and Goluboy. If they're capable of this, there might could be others who are too. We might could need to go looking to destroy whatever knowledge folks have about how to mindwipe whole towns of folks. I reckon we can assume Kuk's involved, probably as a benefactor or even just an inspiration."
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He has to take a moment to reassure himself, and Dan, that that particular hurt is behind them. Bunny breathes in the peace of having Dan in his arms again, all the context of their love in his heart.
"All right, so who's this Rothbart?" he asks, to move them along. "If it makes you feel better, I don't think Kuk's in on this directly. If it were, we'd be dead already. Cygne and Goluboy got us awfully vulnerable. I sure would hate for Kuk to get knowledge of how they did it." He breathes steadily. "But I'd like to find a way around killing them to keep it quiet. I can make the terms of the oath cover that. Make them have to explain to us how they did it, who taught them to do it, and bind 'em to destroy all the information and keep it to themselves."
Blue, blue. "Goluboy means blue and Kyan isn't far off from cyan either. He's two for blue," Bunny mutters, turning that around in his mind.
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It frightens him how easy it was to end up in that terrible limbo of homelessness waiting for a pitiful, unenviable death. All it took was a nasty rumor and his car getting confiscated. He knows that he's lived most of his life just barely outside death's reaches, but even he didn't realize how precarious his situation has been.
"Anyway. If I recall correct, Rothbart's a powerful sorcerer who casts a spell to turn Odette, the princess, into a swan so he can replace her with the black swan. If I recall correct, he wins in the end." Dan bites his lip as he thinks and then whistles the most iconic theme from Swan Lake. "I don't recall him having nothing to do with blue, though. Mostly his motif's owls, I think? It's been forever since I learned about it."
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Bunny can feel Dan's embarrassment, can sympathize with the way he too would be frantic with stress if he'd been in the position Dan was, so close to a death he was powerless to stop on his own. His anxiety over helplessness is a different flavor from Dan's, but it's still an anxiety they can relate on.
"Well, until we have a better idea, Goluboy might as well be Rothbart. Any weaknesses you know of?" Owls don't have a lot of vulnerable points, Bunny is well aware, and that annoys him.
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Emotions making the place painful. Dan's sure Goluboy tried to frame it that way, taking the Warren off Bunny's hands.
"Owls are dumb as hell. That's their weakness." He takes another sip of wine. "How are you doing with, you know. Remembering a few thousand years of life?"
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For a moment he lies and cuddles Dan, and looks at the task ahead of him.
"I've got to go as soon as we've turned over all the stones we can," he says. "I'll need enough water to run however long a human body can run. I reckon I've heard of mortal runners lasting a few days."
It's going to be unpleasant, but it's going to be done.
"I can't think right now of a better way to try and break the curse. If you've got any other ideas, we need to figure them out now, and then I've got to get going."
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He sighs and gets up, putting on another layer of clothing. "Alright, you want to ring up Goluboy before you go and then I'll ambush him?"