Want to Raid a Hostile Hippy Commune?

[Saxon]

I don't know why I even bother attempting another recruitment with as busy as I am, but the story I just thought up has an opportunity for one or two other people to be a part of it. I'm going to move onto the story below, but I ask that those that apply must be able to post and be active. If you aren't going to be able to post within the next couple weeks, don't bother to apply.

Anyway, the premise of this quest is disturbingly strange and complex. My kind of flavor.

Title: The Dream Left Behind
Players: 2 or 3

Synopsis: Saxon investigates a commune deep within the countryside of Corone. It is completely isolated from the outside world having the nearest towns more than fifteen miles away in every direction. This commune is occupied by a sleep cult simply known as 'The Children' who are striving to enter the perfect dream state and become one with their god, Yaghuth. They practice this through the ingestion of hallucinogens, shared dreaming and meditation. Like anyone with half a brain would realize, none of them have yet to reach their twisted goal.

Having become emaciated and their brains fried from the repeated use of dangerous psychedelics and malnutrition, these cultists are virtually harmless to practice their twisted religion as they are left with brains so damaged they're in a permanent state of delusion. However, recently there have been a rash of kidnappings and bizarre murders throughout the entire countryside in which anyone and everybody has been targeted. While the lucky ones are being butchered and having their insides played with, the less fortunate are dragged off kicking and screaming to their doom never to be heard from again.

Why is it believed that The Children are responsible for this? A couple of facts;

1) All the towns in which these kidnappings and murders occur are in a fifteen mile radius of the commune. If you plot it on a map you could see a perfect circle drawn by following the path. How and why they are travelling so far to kill and kidnap has yet to be determined, but they definitely have the numbers and the means to do it.

2) Symbols and strange fetishes are left at each crime scene, more so at the murders than the kidnappings. But, each residence that is broken into has the same symbol drawn on the walls or doors in blood, presumably human, and that is the symbol that can be seen on the walls and entrance of The Children's compound.

While the reasons of this weird and worrying spike in crime is entirely unknown, it has been rumored that this has all started because of a new leader rising within the sleep cult. His name is Samuel Westings, but commonly goes by the declanation given to their priests as 'Yaug'. Nothing is really known about his past other than a long and lengthy rap sheet and stays at asylums painting him as ". . a manipulative and dangerous psychopath." He is the equivilant of Charles Manson for this quest but with far more crazy and is one of the newer members of the cult. His rise to power seems to have riled up the cult into a state of bloodthirst as he has claimed to have seen the true face of Yaghuth and it has told him of a way they can all reach "Paradise".

Which begs the question. What would cause a group of fried, malnourished crazies to roam the countryside and kill/take people?

-----

That's as far as the news goes, the rest is going to be up to us to investigate. Saxon has been hired by a family from one of the towns that have been raided to discover the whereabouts of their missing daughter. He is going to work with you two to solve this mystery. Essentially Saxon and crew are going to camp out in one of the towns that he has figured out will be one of the next ones hit by the Children based on the growing pattern of kidnappings and murders. We will be kidnapped by these cultists and dragged away back to the commune to become followers. We will need to resist brainwashing, druggings and manipulation from Westings in order to get to the bottom of what is going on.

The shocking truth and horror of what is being done within the compound dwells within the bowels of it and we will only discover it through teamwork and investigation.

This quest will be incredibly fast-paced, action-packed and the very definition of weird. I haven't been able to stop thinking about it ever since I came up with the idea, but I think this would be a great story to try with others. This is by far one of the weirdest ideas I've had that could potentially make for a great story. So, if you're into the whole weird idea of hippies turning into psychopaths, the mystery of Yaghuth or just want your character to get hooked on some LSD you've got a couple days to post your interest in this quest. Otherwise I'm going to do it myself.

Slots Taken:
Visla Eraclaire
River Wilhelm

[Za'kephazhala]

Want to Raid a Hostile Hippy Commune?
Yes.

Want to Join A Hippy Cult?
No way.

Will my character be useful?
Yes.

Will my character be able to murder all 'The Children' on sight?
Hopefully this will be my character's motivation.

So I'm not sure if I should really sign up, your choice really. If you think my character will be involved in enough killing he will sign up anyday. I wonder... if my character will be affected by anything that these crazy things they do because... he isn't even in the Firmament and he just controls a skeletal body that does stuff for him. Pretty insane, huh.

Hint hint, nudge nudge, he is pretty weird himself.

[Saxon]

I'll pass, thanks. I have enough crazy, delusional people in this thread as NPCs that sanity is a rare commodity I want for the main characters.

[Visla Eraclaire]

Corone has been my major focus prior to the FQ involvement and this sounds pretty interesting, Saxon. I'm taking a break from binge-writing FQ quests while some other people resolve their threads.

If you want me, you've got me.

[Saxon]

You're in. I'll get an outline up as soon as I can.

EDIT: I can maybe fit one more in if somebody really wants to do this quest. You know what to do.

[River Wilhelm]

If you want logic and tact and not swords and sorcery, I'm your man. Scientists sometimes need a little hallucinogens to get them neurons firing, eh? PM/AIM me at Rayse Valentino if you need anything (if you'll take me).

[Saxon]

All right, River. You're in. Here's some information we're all going to need for the quest, but this is more for me to get my thoughts together then anything. I'll put the first post up today or within the next couple days.

Cast:

The Morris Family – A poor, rural family from the small village of Lode, their daughter was kidnapped by the Children a few weeks ago in the middle of the night. The farmer and his wife have hired Saxon to track their daughter down and bring back information of her whereabouts, for better or worse. They've piled their meager portion of their life savings together as payment for the case, but the hunter is only willing to accept half of it.

Olivia Morris – Having just turned eight years old, Olivia is a bright little toeheaded girl who was kidnapped from the Morris homestead by the Children weeks ago. Nobody knows where she was taken or how, but it is suspected that the only place she could've ended up is at the sleep cult's compound. Saxon has been hired to track this girl down and either bring her back to her parents or to report the news of her unfortunate ending. Her status is unknown, but her parents already assume the worst.

Lucas Kopela - A fiery chemist, Lucas's brilliance has been permanently stained with his presence as a cult member. He looks to be more cognizant of his surroundings and less fried that most of the other cult members, which could probably mean he hasn't been taking his drugs. It is unknown if he was willingly involved with The Children or if he was one of the many kidnapped by the rancorous cult members, but judging from his willingness to be rid of this place and to punish Westings for his crimes it's probably the latter. Lucas desires vengeance for some unspoken misdeed committed by Westings, and is convinced that the only way to solve The Children's growing aggression is to burn the compound to the ground with everybody in it.

Lucas is a tall man, standing at about 5'12'' and is of medium build. He is in his mid-forties, has a shaven head of once rust-coloured hair and bears wire-rimmed glasses. Lucas will be a key ally when we get into the compound when it comes to getting off the drugs considering he was the one who designed the LSD that the cult regularly uses, suggesting he has been a part of this cult longer than he is letting on.

Jared - Having experienced some of the most vivid hallucinations from their beloved drug, this cult member is completely fried. He sits underneath the same tree at the edge of the compound every day, no matter the weather, but can also be seen wandering the compound at night. There's something a bit off about Jared, and strangely enough he seems to be the only one in the compound that Westings truly fears because of how much he abuses him. Lucas has mentioned that it is believed Jared is a genuine psychic and is able to read thoughts, but because his brain is so damaged he probably has a hard enough time trying to understand his own thoughts let alone others. Still, this burn-out has put the fear of God in Westings for some reason and Lucas believes that the damage to his brain may be reversable provided he can find some way to treat him.

David - Ever notice that person who is just a bit off? The kind of person who you're hoping will be drugged to the point of complacency because you can see the evil in his eyes? That's David. Completely psychologically dependent on Westings for LSD, this cult member looks to be so fried that he can hardly move without drooling. But, looks can be deceiving. Even Lucas warns that David is a wild child and that it is unanimously agreed that the psychopath should be on drugs round the clock. When on LSD, David is harmless and will mutter about flights of fancy and garrish tales of brutality that he has probably committed over the years.

When he's off the drugs, however, all hell breaks loose.

David is a former inmate at the infamous Armse Prison on an island off the coast of northern Corone and has a rap sheet a mile long. Having been convicted for ten brutal, known murders, the only thing more well documented than his cruelty is his cunning. Having always been able to keep that same disturbing, wolfish glance even when he isn't lucid, recently David looks to have become more alive which suggests his body is building up a bigger and bigger tolerance to his druggings. Still, he remains under Westings' thumb. At least for now.

Jack - Samuel's right hand man, Jack is the one who truly keeps this compound running by organizing labor and the supplies. Given his status, Jack has been spared the use of LSD and seems to be the only truly sane one within the compound. Which leads many to the same question. If Jack is so sane and knows the horrible things being committed in Yaghuth's name, then why does he continue to help Westings? Nobody knows.

Jack has a presence typical of a number two man, maintaining a presence of leadership and willingness to do whatever his leader asks. He seems to be the only one that Westings respects enough to spare from his mind games, but it doesn't seem like it'd work on him anyway even if the leader had tried. Jack is 5'10'', blue-eyed and is the only other person whose head isn't shaven. The only thing more curious than his strange love for polka music is his undying loyalty to Westings. Jack dresses in the same get-up of lower-ranking members except for posessing hair.

Nine - The only medical doctor on the compound, she is extremely valuable to Samuel's operations. Aside from the occasional cigarette break, she is always down in the mysterious 'Basement' conducting experiments and is believed to be one of three people to know Olivia's whereabouts. Known only as Nine, her real name and past is unknown. What is known about her is that her beauty is only marred by her heavy drug addiction to heroine which is brewed regularly by Lucas until she coerced him into teaching her to make it herself.

Nine is often very quiet, but doesn't seem to back down to anybody. Even the members of Purple Love. She seems to be quite sane, but that remains to be seen. She is one of three people allowed to grow their hair, displaying her status as a high-ranking member of the cult. But the reasons for it are obvious. Nine is very beautiful and is rumored to use that to her advantage for whatever she needs within the compound. Everybody knows of Nine and her power over Lucas, but she never seems to be up to any good. Her raven-black hair and lab coat distinguish her from the rest of the cult members.

Purple Love - Sort of the gestapo for Westings, this small group of thugs act as the watchdogs and enforcers for their beloved leader. This exclusive group is made up of four people. George, Laura, Peter, and Sarah. Each one is crazier than the last and possesses some unique insight into The Children's twisted religion. They are believed to have been the first cult members sent out to bring people back to the compound and have been given this status as Samuel's lapdogs for their success.

These four operate in a pack. They eat together, sleep together, and kill together. Everyone save Westings is an enemy and they have a particular interest in making Jared's life miserable whether or not he is even lucid enough to be aware of it. Strangely enough it is rumored that a pair of these members are siblings, which given their penchant for orgies and bloodshed leads to even more disturbing conclusions. Members of Purple Love all wear the same dark purple robes and are rarely seen apart from one another. At some point, these four are going to need to be dealt with if we're to escape the compound.

Samuel Westings - Called 'Yaug' by his followers, Westings is the high priest and leader of The Children. Genuinely insane, Samuel has stayed at many asylums and has a frequent history with law enforcement. While his dark history and upbringing is unknown, what is known is Westings's thirst for control of his followers. A newer member of the cult, Westings is a third generation member of the sleep cult and has been given the keys to the madhouse because of his claims of having witnessed the face of their beloved God, Yaghuth. He is a diminuitive man who is both power hungry and manipulative, being rumored to have killed the former high priest shortly after his ascension.

Westings is the mastermind behind the growing aggression and violence from The Children and seems to have a method to his madness. Samuel stands at about 5'5'' and looks to be extremely underweight. He possesses genius-level intelligence that seems to have been used only for evil and has the uncanny ability to twist anybody to his will. He has a long, black mane of unkempt hair and pale blue eyes. From first impressions, you'll remember Samuel when you see him.

Yaghuth – The God worshipped by The Children and their twisted cult. Yaghuth will be mentioned many times within the thread as well as experiences of his presence, but we will never meet him. The mystery behind this God and their twisted religion is very complex but little is truly known about it's origin. What is known is that the name 'Yaghuth' is distinctly Fallien in flavor and that the cult has somehow gotten hold of an ancient grimoire from that part of the world telling of this bizarre faith. The drugs and cult worship seem to have been addendums to the faith, but all of it seems to be centered around the practice of dreaming.

The Children - Every member of The Children, with the exception of the higher ranking members, all wear the same uniform. White robes, shaven heads and faces. Even members of the opposite gender comply to this rule. This look of uniformity seems to be a way to possess more control and influence over them. Only members of Purple Love, Nine, and Samuel dress in different appearance given their status.

Each lower ranking member is continually drugged and manipulated into worshipping Yaghuth. Their faith is constantly tested. As a sleep cult, they don't seem to do as much sleeping as their name would imply at first glance, and this is probably because of Westings's rise to power. Lucas will mention that is what they usually always did, and the drugs were used to help coax them into longer fits of sleep. Drugs are now used for control and manipulation under the new regime and the ritualistic sleeping only seems to occur at night in which every member, no matter the status, must sleep within the same long houses. This seems to be a sacred tradition that even Westings will not break, but this seems to be an exercise in promoting the phenomena of shared dreaming.

Every member seems to be coming slowly out of a drug-induced haze and having been rudely awakened from their sleep, their wide array of mental problems and deficiencies have become far more glaring as they grow aggressive and more violent.

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I've been thinking about how we're going to infilitrate the compound. I'd like to talk to each of you over it, but much of this is going to be played by ear. I'll try to catch you on AIM within the next couple days.

[Saxon]

http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?p=155767#post155767

Thread is finally up. Both of you are on deck to post, so let me know if you have any questions.

[Visla Eraclaire]

My post should be forthcoming today or tomorrow. I'm travelling again this weekend.