Shepherd's Haven Event: Devil's Night

[devils_shadow]

Who: Damon the doppelganger and OPEN TO ANY IN SHEPHERD'S HAVEN
What: Devil has an announcement to make in the form of arson and violence. Aforementioned player plot shenanigans.
Where: Shepherd's Haven
When: Forward dated to the night of October 30th, and probably into the morning of the 31st. Devil's night, in other words.
Status: Open with some closed-ish subthreads!
Warnings: Arson and violence?

No night had ever been so aptly named.

Shepherd's Haven wasn't anywhere near Michigan, but that didn't mean the festivities of Devil's Night couldn't be spread to far and wide locales. It was the perfect night, in fact, for the creature known as a demon to remind the sleepy little haven of precisely why it was unwise to prod the beast. Perhaps the one who called him there had forgotten, or perhaps he simply thought the devil had more bark than bite.

Oh, how wrong he was.

It began with fire. Several fires, to be precise. Small at first but fed with whatever accelerant Damon could find on hand. Fuel left unguarded, dry hay or straw. Did you know compost burns very well? It does, oh how it burns. And each fire set at different locations across the town, so quickly and so close to simultaneous one might almost think that they were set by several people at once.

Or one that could move very, very quickly.

The cherry on top was a door with a fading red "X" painted on it, ripped from its hinges and set ablaze, then left on the steps in front of the town hall.

[[OOC: Leaving this fairly open for anyone to react to and have their own threads/etc. of what's happening. Separate threads will go up for some more planned stages of the event, but if anyone wants to be unfortunate enough to run across Damon while he pursues his arsonist rampage through SH go ahead and put up a toplevel and just toss in the comment header that you want me.

Have fun dealing with those fires and rampaging demon, guys!]]

Comments

Closed to Nux - you reap what you sow

[devils_shadow]

There was one in the town he'd hoped to encounter the most. That mouthy, scarred brat who had foolishly invited him to come display precisely what being a demon means. This would be the price for his ill-placed blind loyalty. Damon would be more than happy to teach him the error of his ways.

If he was even capable of learning, given that he'd already proven to have a sub-par level of intelligence. Were Damon capable of it he might have almost felt bad. But he wasn't, so no skin off his nose. The message should have been clear enough this time, between the fires and the missing door.

The boy would come.

Closed to Richard - the guardian falls

[devils_shadow]

The Haven was in a right state by now. Fires roaring, people scrambling to put them out or free animals that had been unfortunately trapped in the barn. At least one foolish soul had tried to interfere so far. There would be others, but Damon only desired one.

But how best to lure a coward?

Well, if this didn't do the trick then he'd have to up his game. But the festivities weren't over yet. Now that everything is properly set ablaze Damon takes a point near an open spot in the middle of town to stand and wait. Sword drawn with the tip resting on the ground before him with his hands crossed on top of the hilt. He looks almost stoic there, calm, as if awaiting a meeting.

In a way he is. It just so happens he's going to meet someone other than intended first.

Closed to Raye and Saretha - Drive the devil out

[devils_shadow]

Winded by the onset of that surprising and extraordinarily unexpected echo, Damon stood catching his breath over the collapsed body of his original. It had almost been exhausting, that rush of adrenaline and rage as the demon form came free. But unlike Tony he didn't have a mortal wound to contend with.

Instead he had precisely what he'd come for: the Devil Arm, and a new power to master. What a fortunate evening indeed for him. Even more fortunate should someone or someones of actual worth step forward to let him practice that new technique. The locals were fun to terrorize, but pathetic and weak prey. Hardly worthy of that kind of effort.

Open - Encounter with Damon

[meteormercenary]

Jacob was walking home when he saw the glow of fires nearby. They seemed out in the open, and he ran towards them, trying to see what he could do to help. Of course, his magic had to be fire. Couldn't have water magic... He groans in frustration as he tries to figure out a way to get water to do the job. When that doesn't work, he opts to help anyone in danger get away from the fires.

As more appear, he runs, trying again to keep people out of the line of fire. What he didn't expect to find was a man setting the fires. At first, he's not sure how to react as he sees Damon, lighting a compost heap on fire. He starts preparing to summon his fire magic, but quickly stops, fearing that his magic could only make this worse. Shit...

But he can't just let this man continue to burn everything.

"Hey!" He shouts as loud as he can, a slight scowl crossing his features. "Knock it off!" He takes a breath, unsure of what he's getting himself into, and does his best to be prepared for hand to hand combat.

Lazarus and OPEN

[numberedshepherd]

Something's wrong. Lazarus is up late, as is typical for him, on the eve of Halloween and (incidentally) his 28th birthday. As he sits typing at his kitchenette table while the rings under his eyes darken and deepen further, however, the normal cast of moon and lantern-light is interrupted by harsh red flickering visible through his window. He closes his computer, eyes widening as he faces it and bolts from his chair. On his way out, he grabs his ice stave, but doesn't have time for shoes.

Several buildings are already in flames as he sprints across the grass barefoot toward the town hall, where Nux's door, painted with a red X, is still burning on the steps. He freezes it solid with his stave in time to keep Shepherd's Haven's largest building from catching, and he wastes no time in going inside and sounding the siren that's loud enough, hopefully, to awaken and alert everyone in the endangered community.

His mind is racing. There are important papers in the town hall, but the building is not presently ablaze, so they're not the most pressing priority. The people are, but with the siren wailing, even the frailest can do something to help themselves and get away from the fire. The animals are a different story; locked in the barn, which is burning, the chickens, sheep, goats and cows are going to perish if they're not freed. They can be rounded up again tomorrow, but only if they're alive.

He runs to the burning building, throwing open the door and doing what he can with his ice stave to beat back some of the flames. Sometimes he wins out and is at least able to douse the flames with the water when the ice melts; other times, it's hot enough that it evaporates too quickly to do any real good. He has to work swiftly. The barn is already in a panic, the animals straining against their pens, and he's very nearly trampled by them when he's pulled the latches and shoved open their enclosures. For a second, the heat and smoke start to get to him; he sinks to his knees, vision spotting, before forcing himself to stand and stagger the rest of the way outside before he can succumb.

The barn's lost, but most of, if not all, the animals got out OK. Still coughing and sore-footed by this point, he run back out into the street, searching for people who appear to need help... as well as the one who is responsible for this threat.

Closed to Tony

[meteormercenary]

Jacob's gotten a bit of his stamina back and he's trying to do everything he can to contribute to stopping the fires and helping those around him. The injuries on his left arm and across his chest at least seem to have stopped bleeding for the moment. The smoke and destruction is starting to become overwhelming. But, for the most part, people seem to be escaping alright.

Or, that's what he thought until he sees a heap on the ground; someone he recognizes very well. It stops him cold in his tracks. For a moment, all he can do is stare in disbelief, wide-eyed, afraid. He forgot how to breathe in that short period of time, and when his breath catches back up to him, he moves forward, rushing to be by Tony's side.

He kneels beside Tony. Shakily, he reaches out a hand to Tony's face. He swallows in fear in desperation. "T-Tony...?" It's a little quiet at first, and he clears his throat to say it louder. "Tony... c-c'mon. Wake up."

Closed

[numberedshepherd]

Lazarus' 28th birthday has dawned red and furious, with so many things he's built on hours of sweat and toil up in flames. While there's truly only so much he can do as one scrawny young man with an ice stave but no magic of his own, he's determined to try, determined to do something to protect the people he convinced to come here. For safety's sake, for peace's sake.

His own home isn't burning yet. He wrenches open the door, making his way to the kitchenette and throwing the ingredients onto the counter in a haphazard sprawl. All of ten seconds are devoted to assembling a sandwich in haste, slapping it onto a plate, and holding it there as he runs back out into the street and sprints toward the newest burning structure. When he gets there and sees the silhouette of someone who looks completely identical to Tony, he knows he's found his man.

"I heard you were invited," he calls, making a concentrated effort to keep any kind of waver out of his voice as he holds out the sandwich. "We try to be good hosts here if nothing else. Let's talk about this. Please," he adds, relaxing his hold on the ice stave, eyes wide in his pale face.

Open - this girl is on fire

[charcoalfeather]

The rumbling of flames grabbed Rakka's attention more then anything else could. She ripped out her earphones, grabbing her heartcatch perfume, and bolted out the front door where she could easily make out at least three of the fires.

Rakka could feel her breath catch in her throat. Or, maybe she was screaming, and she didn't hear it. She didn't hear Fougere next to her, shouting... words. He looked frightened, so did she.

"Hurry. Hurry!" A mantra in her mind, she bolted down the stairs and into the town. She searched until her investigating bore fruit: one of the fires set up. Rakka didn't freeze up. She pulled out the extinguisher she grabbed from the house and let loose on the flames. It would put out a good amount of it... but would it be enough?

Aftermath- Open!

[verweiledoch]

Part of being an emergency responder for so long means that Johann has nearly a sense for when he'll be needed. Rumblings of trouble in a remote Numbered settlement have reached him, and though he'd never used a teleporter before, he'd gotten to Gateway's and taken it directly to Shepherd's Haven with as many medical supplies as he could carry. They'll probably need a helicopter to get the more seriously injured people to a hospital in Woodend or Christchurch, but he can at least provide assistance on the scene.

There are still fires burning when he arrives, but the biggest risk of danger seems to have moved on along with the village's attacker. His long legs stride purposefully toward the trouble, listening for sounds of distress, pain, cries for help. He's attuned to all of them, even stifled whimpers or the heaviness of trying to keep agony out of a voice.

"I'm a doctor!" he announces to anyone he comes across. "Elevate that! You, who can move, please help get them to that larger building. I need water, any bandages or antiseptic you have on-hand. Hurry!"

Anyone who is still out in the open and needs help gets him hastily kneeling by their side. "I know you're afraid, and I know it hurts, but I'm going to help you. Deep breaths, stay calm. I've seen full recoveries from worse. It'll be OK."