daybreakacademy | [Open] The Mark of the Herald

Mark of the Herald Part I
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Despite certain disruptive events and ominous visions in the preceding month, August is seemingly still free of any problems.

That’s quick to change, however. Starting from the third of the month, strange, circular marks begin to appear on human students around the school - and, indeed, humans around the world. Those affected begin to feel incurably drowsy, something that no magical or mundane solution can seem to cure or relieve; eventually, they’ll fall asleep entirely, whether they want to or not, and enter a state of magical stasis. Not even nonhumans are immune, though whether they’re marked seems to be much more erratic.

Those who remain awake or are otherwise spared by the mark are free to do as they wish - the Academy won’t ask them to do more than keep themselves safe. But where each marked person falls in slumber, a portal will form; a strange tear in reality, offering glimpses of a surreal, nightmarish plane that differs vastly from individual to individual. One thing is certain; the cause of a victim’s seemingly endless sleep and these portals are linked somehow, and the only way to find out exactly how is to go through...and the only ones capable of doing so are those who are still awake.

This log can be used as a catch-all for event-related threads. The information for this event is here.

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I. feel the rhythm in my cold heart
[In the chaos of all the events surrounding the marks, it can be easy to miss something at first:]

[Namely, the fact that Jailbreak seems to have disappeared entirely.]

[This impression will last up until someone picks up on the very faint sound of snoring, and carefully follows it to the grate covering one of the very, very few ventilation ducts in the campus buildings large enough for an actual human being to fit inside.]

[Sure enough, closer examination will reveal a lock or two of pale silver hair dangling out through the slats of the grate, and removing it will reveal one (1) trashy crimegirl slumped against the ductwork, completely unconscious, mark on the back of her left hand shining brightly enough to be seen through her work gloves.]

[Someone should probably move her.]

II. i've been living on the far side
[Moving through the portal into Jailbreak's dreamscape will take you into a landscape that seems almost deceptively simple.]

[There's nothing but pale grey smoke or mist as far as the eye can see, obscuring anything that might be present, a blank and empty world... except for the single massive structure in the center.]

[It's an unbelievably huge birdcage made of dark iron and pale, clear green glass, dangling down on a massive chain that goes so far up into the sky that the other end of it can't be seen.]

[At least, it was... but something seems to have shattered it, cracking the cage open and leaving a massive hole in the side, damaging it so badly that it lists at an angle as it hangs from the chain. Upon closer examination, what you're standing on proves not to be solid ground, but a large piece of debris from the breaking of the cage, floating gently in the air around it.]

[You can navigate to the cage itself by hopping from piece to piece, travelling across the little islands of glass shards and chunks of twisted metal to reach the source, but examining it will only confirm what the feeling of emptiness in this place has been trying to tell you all along:]

[Jailbreak isn't here. She left a very long time ago.]

[OOC: As discussed in planning, Jail has left her own dreamscape and can be found wandering around the dreams of others at random. If you want her to show up in your dreams, or explore hers while she's out, feel free to let me know.]

Coco Rivera was told that this was a prestigious and wealthy school. People from all walks of magical life honed their skills here in an effort to stop nightfall. This included some of the most talented and intelligent people in the world. This was the place of the brave, the incredible, people far beyond her.

What she didn't expect was that "beyond her" might mean "in an air vent". Having removed the vent, she now stares at a grown adult woman.

"Uuuh... Señora? Hey... Are you okay?"

[Jailbreak sure is incredible. Incredibly what... well, that's a little more difficult to answer.]

[Either way, she's not waking up, seeming still fast asleep despite Coco's arrival and removal of the vent. There's some small tools for precision mechanical work scattered around the inside of the vent, one still dangling limply from her fingers, on the verge of slipping out of her grasp entirely. It looks like she just... fell asleep on the spot, right in the middle of whatever she was doing.]

[Above her, there's a subtle shimmer in the air, like heat haze.]

[The dreamscape Jailbreak somehow found was a rather picturesque snowy Victorian city. But there did not seem to be anybody here, including whoever was dreaming it up. Even the buildings were likely empty too, in that nonexistent interior way that some dreams tended to be.]

[But on closer look, there was at least one thing moving around the streets, a swarm of shadows. A wave of it with a mind of its own.]

[It doesn't stop, but was it heading towards somewhere in particular or just wandering around? Who knows...]

[Jail accepts this with her usual air of 'sure, this might as well happen'. It is a dream, after all. This kind of thing was probably bound to occur sooner or later.]

[Eyeing the shadow swarm curiously, she uses her gravity-defying boots to walk along the walls of the taller buildings, observing it without getting down to ground level, and thus hopefully staying out of grabbing range.]

[Now, where's it going...?]

[Surprisingly, it doesn't seem bothered by Jailbreak's presence at all. It simply keeps going, regardless if it is being followed or not.]

.̶̢̯̳͈̲̜̩͋̇̒̍͘̚.̷̛̰̱̠͙̀͐.̴̰̬̞̌̋͋̓̉̀̚͝N̷̲̜͓̦̈̓͗̈́͝͠o̷̡̮̹̦̪̙̯͎͉͐̾̈́͊̚̚t̵̢̥̩́̈́̿͊̓̚ ̸̧̱̮͖̼̪̝͎̫͍͂̂̏̋̉̔́͝h̷͉̖̕ȅ̶̪̜̰̺͗̏͜r̴̩̿̎è̶̦̳͝.̷̲̬̖̦̯̞̜̖͂͝ ̴̨̻̥͖̘̹͆̽̃̐̀̿̂̀̏̾͜N̸̨̦͈͉͌o̴̡̼̟̘̓̿͐̀̈́͌̈͜͝͠t̴̬̥̣̜̦͖̤̅̐̒̂̏́̋͛̈͜͠ ̶̬̫̪͎͗̃̍͂̊̓̅̍̈́͜t̴̻̝̻̀͌̈́͛ͅh̸̼̮̘͎͓̰̽e̴̠̓͑͆ ̸̧͉̱͓̈́̆̈́̋́̍̌̏̈́o̴̧̩̠͎͔̘̒͋̀͆̐͒̍͘̚ņ̴̨̼̭͕̮̟̀ẹ̶̤͇̻̯̽̒̿̈́̀.̶̠͕͒̓͂̎̍̆͂̇̕͝

[A voice whispers? It might've been speaking to itself, probably.]

I dunno, buddy- if you keep trying to find "the one" before you commit to anything, you're just gonna go on a lot of awkward first dates. Love the one you're with and all that, right?

[Yeah, she's just making fun of the shadow monster, like you do.]

[Open] The Mark of the Herald

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I

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II-ish? Hopefully this is fine??

Yeah, go for it. :D

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