WELCOME TO THE HIVE

[rysligparasites]

MOD PLOT: HAPPY ASCENSION DAY

It's a long journey to Kulen and you’re paralyzed for all of it. The parasites aren't very delicate about carrying you there and you may get prodded with the odd pincer, but they diligently protect you from any external threats so you arrive relatively unharmed.

They carry you into a series of tunnels and into the belly of the hive where they lay you down on the ground. You lie there, unable to move or speak as more of the parasites converge on you, chittering excitedly and smelling you with their antennae. As the paralysis starts to wear off, they roughly and enthusiastically help you up and guide you through the tunnels, excitedly showing you around.

Eventually, you'll meet a parasite with human features who will give you a stilted, but genuine welcome. Apparently you are a special guest who has been brought here to help celebrate their beloved queen's first ever ascension day! While you're here, they want to learn as much about YOU and your traditions as they can so they can make this the greatest party ever.

The parasites implore you to eat their human cooking which is mostly composed of various things (both edible and not) that they've deep fried. They worked very hard and they will be very offended if you don't finish it. They also invite you to contribute to their cave paintings which are entirely composed of parasites doing parasite things.

During your stay, you'll likely run into other monsters who've been replaced by doppelgangers. Maybe some of them have been here for a while. Maybe others have just turned up.

Your quarters are dark and maybe a little cramped given that you're sharing them with a whole bunch of insectoid creatures and maybe one or two monsters. Other than that, they're relatively comfortable.

Settle in and make yourself at home. You'll be here for a while.

Comments

[hauntpadour]

Right, I'm... not sure when we're going to be free. But, at least it seems to be temporary.

He's hardly noticed his own corporeal form fading in and out, as long as he can handle things. It's a pain of being used to this, but more a pain not. Such is existence here.

How are you settling, by the way?

B

[justbeingknife]

I'll be honest with ya, I prefer a straight fight. But seein' as how we're surrounded, outnumbered, and there're rubber ducks involved, I'm all ears.

[ In more ways than one, in fact, as a pair of large, wolfish ears was currently protruding from the top of Majima's head. ]

This place's crawling with preparations, so you'd figure there's gotta be a hole in their security somewhere.

[justbeingknife]

[ There was an aura of warmth that seemed to exude from Majima's body, but he seemed to view this more as an attempt to get within comfortable speaking distance than use him as some kind of space heater. ]

Do ya have to hang out in the water, or else your skin dries out? That's how it works for mermonsters, right?

I know a guy who practically busted out of his shirt when he hulked out last month. Actually, it was kind of an improvement.

[hantale]

[Yeeees, for speaking distance. Honestly, Fran is more than fine in the cold thanks to those kelpie changes... But that doesn't mean it isn't a little uncomfortable if it isn't in water.]

Hmmm, not really! I do like the water a bit more now, so I often just find myself taking a dip even in these cold winter months. It's a bit chilly, but not.. uh- enough to bother stopping?

The real trick is finding water that isn't frozen!

[One hand shifts to cover their mouth as they giggle, pausing only as the faint sounds of bug scuttling scurry past the door to their room, yet another sound that makes the kelpie draw back into their ball nearby.]

'Hulked' out?

[justbeingknife]

Hmm... suppose it'd be rude to swim in the bath.

[ Did Bavan have indoor pools? Another thing he'd never had cause to wonder about before. ]

I'm sorta waitin' around for the water to thaw, too, but that's so I can go fishing. Although I did sorta promise to go on a swim with someone later.

Anyway, what I meant was the guy put on a lot of muscle real fast. Sound like a monster type you'd recognize?

[hantale]

Eheh, probably... Though I have gone to the bathhouse Lust runs a few times, that one's quite nice.

[The short answer is yes, there's one specifically run by a monster!]

Oh- Hmmm, it sounds like a Troll, they can get really big and strong!

How have you been, though? I haven't seen you since before the fires started in Bavan, so I hadn't really gone that way.

[justbeingknife]

Those the ones that grow and shrink? Wonder how that works, anyway... what if ya forget and end up wreckin' the roof of your house?

[ It had been a little while, hadn't it... ]

I've been findin' out more about this place. Can't believe it's been five years already, and no one's been able to figure out how to get home.

[ IT WAS LOOKING GRIM. ]

Talked to a bunch of people, started a business, did a little magical tourism...

[notsoclumsy]

"You stopped time?" [That was not something he expected to hear. Because apparently teleportation was more reasonable than just stopping time.

And after a pause, apparently coming to terms with this...]

"Who's Elias?" [Did no one tell Eisuke about Elias? He'd heard about the Fog God, yes, but apparently not enough about Elias.]

[hantale]

Probably best to get a hang of your monster abilities before settling into a smaller house then! Or just find one with a lot of room!

[There's a soft giggle to accompany the shrug that followed.]

Of course, could always just not live in a house, that'd be the easiest way to go about it!

[One eyebrow raises, their right hand lifting up to rest their chin and cheek on for something a bit more comfortable. Though their lips curl into a smile, eyes widening a bit as the questions keep rolling.]

Oh? The business we talked about before... that involved making clients feel welcome? And what did you go see!

[They actually seem a bit more excited now, curiosity piqued by the trickle of information.]

[me_underfire]

[Grace stops mid-bite to examine the deep-fried piece of... chicken? Is it chicken? She hopes it's chicken.]

Really? It tastes fine to me, and...

[And then it hits her, as she stares down at her tiny raccoon hands. Raccoons are scavengers that eat out of dumpsters.]

Oh, god. I'm eating trash.

[me_underfire]

There just seems to be a lot of things they're not very familiar with, like, say, how to invite people to their queen's birthday party.

[Ascension day! One of the bugs helpfully corrects her.]

[hauntpadour]

Fair enough.

[He nods to the little but, moving his wings in time with his arms.]

I would like to see the occasional piece of fruit.

[defyingfrigidity]

It's a good escape, isn't it?

[Elsa knows that well. There were good days in her childhood, the rare times where she thought her touch wouldn't freeze everything she came in contact with even with the gloves, where she just... wanted to play. To pick up the piano she loved as a child but stopped because playing required touching and touching was bad. But on the good days, when she'd lose herself in playing the piano, it felt... amazing, to make something good with the hands she hated so much.

It wasn't the same, with him feeling wistful about a place rather than the act of playing itself, but the feelings... they were similar, weren't they?]

At least they seem to be... kind, if a bit odd. [And even the oddness isn't really bad?] I suppose our situation could be much worse.

[bound_skyward]

[Who knows, they might come up with a new idea along the way. That seems as good an idea as any, at the moment. Kain knows they have to take this slow, be patient, so they can figure out a real plan. He only hopes they manage it before things get worse.]

[Kain sighs in disappointment when the bugs aren't quite able to answer. So much for that. Not that he'd expected their captors to be entirely helpful, but even so...]

We may just have to search around ourselves, then, if they won't tell us. They don't seem too good at identifying us by name.

[bound_skyward]

It's not my poetry, it's... it's theirs. They're 'practicing' this, apparently...

[One of the parasites continues on, proudly reciting the lines he's learned, while the other gestures toward Gregg, beckoning him to do that again. Clearly, this is amusing their weirdo captors.]

[bound_skyward]

[Kain nods agreement, sighing a little. Even in his day-form, he's stronger than average, and as a trained warrior, he's always been more into outright battle than stealth. But these captors of theirs aren't exactly into fighting, it seems.]

I, too, prefer a direct approach. Fighting is much more my style, but every time I've made a more direct run for it... they've caught me. So we have to be strategic. We should keep an eye on their movements, gather information on what they're up to. They seem to be building toward some sort of event... the closer it gets to that, the more busy they're likely to become.

[An event which is bound to result in certain death for them all, he's convinced.]

[hantale]

[Fran lets out a soft, exasperated sigh, nodding in agreement to the males words.]

Looks like it... Lets go- Hmm, this way!..

[Yes, they had just picked a direction at random... Well, mostly random, Fran avoided the path that smelled of deep-fried flowers.]

This would be much easier with a map of some sort... or our network things.

[scholiast]

You mean besides getting dragged down here by parasites? Well enough.

(She's changed a lot since Egon last saw her, moved farther along in her transformation. The look she gives him is a little rueful.)

You didn't tell me the wings would hurt so much.

[scholiast]

How were you raised here? No, that's rhetorical, don't answer that.

(She's trying to think, her arms crossed lightly over her chest, frowning. Eventually, she glances back to Majima, utterly non-plussed.)

Why are they fostering entire families down here? What's their purpose?

(The girl is trying to chip in in the background ("Hey, I'm right here, you know,") but Lucretia is kind of ignoring her.)

[soft_focus]

White still has some hue to it buddy. Anyway.

Reira raises her eyebrows, and the bugs chitter various answers of No.

"...Why would they know about someone named 'Charles'..."

[soft_focus]

Yeah. [what like its hard

Anyway.] Mnh- he's someone fighting the Fog God. Everyone calls him the 4th God but...

[She shakes her head.] Mnh, he's not a god. He's a lot stronger than any monster, but that doesn't make someone a 'God' I don't think.

He's my friend.

[silenceofthesheep]

[Gregg looks at them, giving a supportive thumbs up.]

Oh yeah? You got the voice for it dude.

[Gregg lays down some more beatboxing for his parasite overlords. Look at that, he's laying down a mouth record scratch. Wicky-wicky-waaah.]

[justbeingknife]

They eat you, right?

[ Majima turned right around to ask the girl straight out. Why not? She'd been pretty direct so far. ]

They ain't like monsters; they don't go out and find individual humans to kill. Place like this, it's way too big for that.

[ "Something like that," the girl said, crossing her arms. Kind of like the bugs had been assuming the monsters would do, then. His line of reasoning was cold, but the way Majima was looking at the girl was some quiet mixture of regret and... something else, more elusive.

"We have to live here, but we're... they take care of us." She wasn't really meeting either of their eyes, but she seemed determined not to leave. ]

[hantale]

The response isn't exactly encouraging. Fran's expression sinks, worry a bit more evident. Since it seems their fellow kelpie is the easiest to speak to, they turn to face Reira instead.

"I lived with him, he disappeared a day before I was brought here... so I thought, you know... He'd probably be around?" After all, if not here, then where?

[hauntpadour]

[Very interesting. He nods sympathetically, touching one of the horns he's so used to by now.]

These hurt the most for me, but I can understand. To be fair, most people will warn you that it hurts no matter what you become.