The Spring Equinox always plucks at Lena's mind, itching between her shoulder blades where wings might sprout, if humans grew wings. She remembers stories of the great pilgrimage that occured in the before-times. But for all her life they were only that: stories. Tales of a ritual that, though mourned, was left behind.
Until, of course, this year.
If her financial situation weren't teetering on a knife's edge, Lena would consider passing on her other jobs and sticking to the Crow's Nest. It's impossible to avoid initiates or their handiwork throughout Burnington. Always some scattered offering to trip over, a robed figure with bobbing antennae to bump elbows with, or vision dust shimmering in the air. Lena is endlessly thankful her immunity to the toxin is holding up. The last thing she needs is a drug-induced trip down memory lane.
The heady, crystalline-sweet smell of rotting fruit that seems to follow her is doing enough to thrust her into pockets of childhood memory. Maybe tomorrow she'll visit Dante. The older man is usually able to clear her mind, especially when it's plagued with flashbacks to her time with the eclipse.
Tonight, though, Lena is set to fight at Hell's Gate. A good distraction, if not as kind of one as Dante. Fighting would at least serve to get her out of her mind and back into her body. Just walking up to the lurid, glowing entrance of the den of indulgence helps. Lena is still carefully vigilant as she treks toward the building, loathe to get ensnared in any gossimer-threads of her history.
afterglow had offered to allow the board members tour the compound or any of the facilities whenever they wanted, as the essential decision makers for the corporation as a whole. neve knew she could live there if she wanted to but didn't like the idea at all. it felt like they were separated from regular society and the structure of it all nauseated her at her core. since the cultists were heavy doing cultist shit, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to take them up on their offer.
halfway through the tour, that she was finding incredibly boring she might add, things switched when she saw a glimpse of someone being escorted back into one of the buildings. dark hair, tattoos, plain clothing, tall, a scowl on his face... none of it particularly stood out to her as anything at a glance but it was a fleeting look in her direction that had her pause her steps. she knew those eyes. an incredible ache lurched from her chest to her stomach and the breath caught in her throat. gray.
of course there was no way she could find out for sure without talking to him and she couldn't do that without bringing attention to herself. she absolutely would not be doing that. instead, neve forced composure and gave the guide an apologetic smile, feigning a need for water. as they walked she asked who that was being escorted, that it looked concerning, are they keeping prisoners on site? patients? and yes, in fact, they did but no one particularly dangerous. of course she didn't believe the woman for a second and as soon as she could she asked if her badge could got her full access, which it did, minus the armory ( which neve found uniquely hilarious considering how many of her designs were likely stored in there ).
stood still while the guide was still in sight, sipping the aluminum can filled with drinking water and offering a polite smile. the minute they were out of sight, neve's expression dropped to cold and neutral while she set off into motion back to the building she saw them brought to. after a several database searches and a few more swipes of her keycard she'd found his room, or what she assumed was his as it was labeled quite cryptically. before anyone could stop her or try to redirect her elsewhere ( not that she would've let them at that point ), she finished the last rush through the maze of floors and rooms till she reached the door.
there was no time wasted to push inside and flipped around to look at the occupant, heart thumping with adrenaline. neve's lips parted but she didn't say a word, she couldn't make her voice sound. she could only hope she hadn't done all that for nothing.
the spring equinox is upon us and while that may not matter to many in the devil’s elbow, there is one faction that holds the date with high importance. the children of mothman used to travel to point pleasant during each equinox. there they would hold a two or more week ceremony in honor of the dread father, filled with many festivities and opportunities to get close to, or lay eyes onto the wise mothman himself. unfortunately, this tradition has come to almost a complete halt in the past twenty or thirty years due to the growing levels of radiation and toxicity in the town. there was a reason they relocated the museum and the artifacts inside. still, a small eclipse ventured back there each year in fear of losing touch, however, the risk was becoming too great as they were sure to lose at least one member if not the entire venturing party. in perfect moth-like fashion, a member held up a metaphorical lightbulb of an idea that the rest of the children flocked to. why not hold it there in devil’s elbow? this was just as much holy land, if not more so and the population there desperately needed to be awoken to the light and the way of the woods.
from early evening on march 20th on, ritual pyres will be erected throughout the region with a heavy focus on mountainous and wooded areas. new totems, shrines, and troughs of blood, nectar, and rotting fruit can be found scattered in plain sight and bright beams of light are projected into the sky like beacons. rituals will be held hourly by robed figures with what looks like antennae on their head. glowing red eyes can be seen in every dark corner and it’s hard to tell which ones are real and which are not. up on the mountains and outside the borders of burnington, large aerosolizers normally meant to filter toxicity from the air have been filled with vision dust and decorated with depictions of the wise winged one and his wife, along with feathers, and, more importantly, stranglethorn vines and an assortment of dangerous obstacles that can range from booby traps to contained infected. all of this, an effort to stop dim ones from stopping the awakening efforts. inside burnington, members have hidden rotting fruit and nectar troughs to lure all moths and winged ones out. outside the museum a large throne is being built in preparation for the holy one’s arrival.
✱ OOC :
what does this mean for your muse? well, if they are already a mothman cultist / follower, they will likely be busy as much or as little as you want them to be. it would be assumed that they would want to partake in the festivities, however, as well as trying to ‘awaken’ more followers for the dread father and night mother. for anyone else, there’s a decent chance that at any given moment your muse could be hit with vision dust which is neurotoxic dust said to fall from giant moths and offered by the birds, caves, and the dread father himself that causes those who inhale it to hallucinate. most cultists are immune to this unless it’s in large doses, but average people can and will be affected. random hallucinations mixed with flashing red eyes, large moths, bats, and butterflies coming out in troves for the snacks being left out for them, and the singing, chanting, and whispering at any given hour of the day or night— it’s sure to be an experience for any and everyone.
while in game the event takes place from the spring equinox to whenever the children choose to stop, in real time this event will go on from FRIDAY, APRIL 11th at MIDNIGHT ( basically the moment it turns friday for you ) and it will end on SUNDAY, APRIL 27th, at 11:59PM. there will be a plot drop to wrap things up, with some possible zingers along the way to spice things up if needed. feel free to add to it from your muse’s perspective but if changing anything major we ask you run it by us first. we hope this is a good way to get people out and about, join in the festivities, or huddled somewhere to get to know each other. all starters should be tagged with DEHQEVENT001 and happy writing!
Phalène worked in a rhythm that was all her own, oblivious to the world around her, the world remade -at least for now- in His Image. She has been His for so long now that the scent of blood and rot barely tickles her nose and the fine mist that hangs in the air is but a whisper. The naive panicked in the streets, crying and worried, but birth was painful and awakening into the light was not supposed to be easy. Let them see how the Dread Father watched their world, let the naive finally feel His presence. They would be better for it, even if they would balk it at first.
Leni's hands scanned over her brushes and she picked a thick one for the first coat, a mixture of iron and strawberries to create a red paint that she used to create the eyes. The liquid dripped like fresh blood down the stone work of the building. It was dark outside and the lantern-light made the scene a picture of grotesque beauty. She added in black and silver, painting wings filled with their prophecies and scripture. Then, at the bottom of the wall, she painted a lantern, glowing gold. "Follow the Light and you'll find Him." The script was flowing, painstaking until a sound behind her made her jump on the last letter and she spun around with a look of fury. No words passed her lips as she turned around and fixed the letters before finally acknowledging the guest. "Well, how does it make you feel?"
mama always said that dixie didn't have a learning problem, she had a listenin' problem. that's how she'd managed to avoid all the mothman whispers and hocus pocus talk that had been going around. there's quite a bit you could convince her of, but a half man, half moth with glowing red eyes was not one of them. call it the remnants of her southern baptist upbringing, but there was still some fear of god left in her and she knew better than to go off worshipping false idols. not that she did much worshipping in the first place.
if she had been listening lately, however, maybe she would have known about the unusual amount of moths, bats, and butterflies that had been showing up in town; or the uptick in hallucinations and public freakouts in the past couple weeks. instead, she was damn near clueless when she saw people gathered around looking at something she couldn't see from behind. "hey what's goin' on? what are y'all lookin' at?"
where: the mad scientist
closed starter for @exmcrtis ( cole )
it had been one hell of a week and jonah, quite frankly, needed to see anyone other than his twin brother or dixie for that matter. though at least she wasn't teasing him relentlessly for thinking he saw mothman on the way home from. plus cole was working and he couldn't ask if she wanted to come chill if she was at the bar. he needed to get out anyways, even if getting out was what led to the whole shitshow to begin with.
he sat down at one of the tables off to the side, and pulled down the bandana he'd used as a saftey precaution on the way over. already had his sketchpad prepared in case cole was too busy to stop and chat. a dopey smile crossed his features when she came into view and it was stupid how it happened. she wasn't very available and he knew that, but he also wasn't judah when it came to any kind of thing representing a romantic encounter. casual or not. so he sat grinning like the idiot he was until she could come over. "hey, how're y'all holdin' up? i need something stupid strong." he scoffed rubbing at an ink stain on his hand. "i got hit with that vision dust shit and judah refuses to let me live it down."
where: over the river and through the woods
closed starter for @insainted ( dante )
that’s right baby, come home to mama.
the trees were swaying. odette had not intended to go into the woods, especially not at night and by the time she realized what she’d done she was already lost. red eyes kept showing up in its peripheral and whenever it stopped long enough to peer into the darkness. a squeak sounded as panic weighed down on her chest, making it tight and shortening her breath. it felt like it was being held under water, drowning on dry land. stupid moths. stupid dust. stupid mother. she pressed herself against a tree and slid down it to close her eyes. an attempt was being made to calm down, shake past the voices and fog swirling around in her head.
“shut up, shut up, shut up,” it mumbled the words under its breath and rocked back and forth. you have to get out of the woods, odette. it’s not safe. there was several more moments sat there, rocking, trying to chase away the storm that wouldn’t go away because that woman had poisoned it again.
it’s okay, dottie, we’re just going to go look at the water.
“no!” dot shot up on her feet and started to run back toward the city, or at least what way she thought the city was. she could swear she heard severina trailing behind her. the red eyes watching to see where she went, reporting back and tempting her away from the light. dot glanced back as she neared the clearing, where the trees thinned and one of the gates to the city could be seen. all at once there was a collision and dot was on her ass. trees, she must’ve run into one, rubbing her head she looked up to see a person instead. a man, but it was hard to be sure in such dim light. “it should look where it’s going, odd knows. can-can you help? the eyes keep flashing in the dark and that woman is following me. it’s not safe for odette here. i-i need to go back to the city or, or the compound. where duck is.” it tugged on the sleeve of the vaguely familiar frame, hoping they were safe and not one of her children.
where: beau and ziggy's house
closed starter for @eatabug ( beau )
for the first time in a while, ziggy had opted to stay indoors. they'd been one of the first to hear about what the cultists had gotten up to, and they'd only progressively gotten worse. of course, ziggy told beau about it all that night but they wouldn't blame him for forgetting, with all the things their partner got up to in a day, it was surprising he remembered what they'd said to him in the morning each day by the time they were eating dinner. perhaps they should've written up a reminder like they often need to tell themselves. ziggy was quite forgetful if they didn't mark it down and they hadn't a much of an excuse in comparison. but they hadn't and now there was a worried tic at the back of their brain wondering if beau had remembered to wear protection or not.
maybe that's what had them getting up to greet him at the door every time they heard it open, regardless if it was one or five times, depending if they were home at the time ( which, again, they were trying to do as much as possible since the news ). that day was no exception but this was the first time there was a reason to be concerned on sight. "babe? you okay?" they moved in closer thinking maybe he hadn't heard them round the corner or if something was wrong, they would need to be there to help. "been worried, you're remembering to cover your face right? stay cautious around the city?" the denser populated areas at least. them living just barley in burnington limits meant being away further away from the chaos. "i've already heard some nutso stories about the weird shit going on."
