pumpkinhollow: (Default)
pumpkinhollow ([personal profile] pumpkinhollow) wrote in [community profile] ph_logs2024-08-15 06:22 pm

[ August Event ] Thatcher's Blight

**Plain text version here.
THATCHER'S BLIGHT
FLU SEASON
CONTENT WARNINGS: Pandemic/quarantine, exaggerated rabies allegory, loss of faculties, medical, unsanitary, extreme violence, mental degradation and dementia-like symptoms, zombie-like behavior, guaranteed death.

-

The day that the plague comes to Marrow Isle has all the makings of a very peaceful day on the island. Incidents of Dirt Men and dragon sightings have been minimal, the crabs are in the process of receding back into the sea, and the weather has been lovely. Warm with a crisp breeze, not a cloud in the sky. The heat of summer is beginning to peter out and the smell of autumn begins to waft in the breeze, thoughts turning to apple harvests and colored leaves. It should have been a lovely day.

But let’s be honest, that’s always the first sign of trouble, isn’t it?

The market in town bustles as usual when a stranger walks into town. This isn’t inherently strange. New people arrive all the time, after all. What makes this particular incident strange is the fact that the unusual man enters from the wrong side of the island, seeming to come from the mountain rather than the shore. His features are strange, elongated uncannily and darkened in peculiar places as if being lit from directly above by a spotlight in a dark room. He is smiling broadly, his eyes bright but glassy, and he walks with a bit of a stagger as he tours every single shop and booth in the marketplace. He laughs loudly, touches everything he can, puts his hands on every person who will allow him, and lets out a rattling cough at random intervals. Sometimes the cough comes with blood. And if you ask him if he’s alright, he’ll laugh heartily and answer, “Oh, I’m fine, I just haven’t been feeling so well.”

When the man is detained and taken to a clinic, he goes without complaint, telling jokes the whole way and following any orders or requests with genial compliance. He’s hazy, but well-mannered and friendly. Any questions for the stranger, however, are met only with peals of near-drunken giggles, with only two exceptions. When asked what he is sick with, he will readily answer that he has something called “Thatcher’s Blight.” And when asked for his name, he will answer, “Patient Zero.” But by the time this information is passed to the radio and newspaper, people are already beginning to cough.

VIROLOGY
PROGNOSIS Thatcher’s Blight is a viral infection that is transmitted primarily through body fluids, but it can also become airborne and will stick to surfaces that are not cleaned thoroughly. The onset is fast and aggressive, and the diagnosis is always deadly. At least until a cure is found. Thankfully, Pumpkin Hollow is staffed with medical professionals from all throughout time, whose job it will be to research the disease and create a vaccine. Below is a thorough overview of all of the details you’ll need OOCly, but ICly these things should be figured out organically.

Stage 1. Incubation + Initial Infection [ 2-6 HOURS ]
› Incubation is extremely short, and the virus begins manifesting symptoms quickly after initial infection, sometimes as soon as a mere two hours after contact. Patients experience strong flu-like symptoms, including exhaustion, nausea, fever, running nose, sore throat, cough, increased heart-rate, difficulty breathing, and mild delirium. A patient will become truly infectious when a fever forms, and will need to be handled with caution in this event. Infection from a patient in Stage 1 is not impossible, but notably lower than the later stages of infection.


Stage 2. Prodromal [ 16-24 HOURS ]
› Characterized by severely increasing symptoms as patients' bodies attempt to fight off the disease. Flu-like symptoms worsen, and any suffering the illness who were not bedridden will often become so. Confusion worsens severely; completely lucid patients will lose track of where they are, or who they are with. Emotional dysregulation begins, and short-term memory starts to degrade. Infection from a patient in Stage 2 is not impossible, and is increased from the low rates of Stage 1, but is also notably lower than the later stages of infection.


Stage 3. "Amnesiac's Recovery" / False Decline [ 30-38 HOURS ]
› So named due to a return of many of the patients' physical faculties, such as standing and walking without issue, but cold-like symptoms continue. Patients' short-term memory continues to degrade and general confusion remains severe, and many will enter a so-called "time loop" of their day-to-day actions: whatever action they were taking before the "loop" begins, they will repeat. If someone goes to the grocery store, they will pay, take groceries home, drop them, and return to do so again. Phone-calls will be made again, and repeat beat-for-beat.

Addressing the "loop" will often cause a patient to regain some lucidity, but they will often fall back into doing so once more if left to their own devices. As the False Decline moves into the next stage, patients will begin to experience sharp, often unprovoked bursts of rage, or a persistent level of frustration.


Stage 4. "Propagation" / Furious Form [ 40 - 52 HOURS ]
› Most often observed in carnivores and omnivorous species, as many herbivores/prey animals will simply attempt to run, hide, or collect with their herd (which frequently performs the same function). Notably, this stage for animals lasts a distinctly short amount of time, and transfer rates between animals are remarkably low compared to humanoid infection - the reason for this is unknown.

Patients seemingly succumb to a deep rage and attack any moving object in sight, track sources of sounds, and occasionally begin lashing out at inanimate objects. Dexterity is reduced sharply; patients with hands will no longer be able to grip doorknobs or use intricate tools.

No regard for physical well-being is maintained, and patients will undergo grievous injury to attempt their attacks. Attacks are never made with intention to kill, though fatality from wounds is possible; the intention of the "Propagation" period is to spread the virus as widely and quickly as possible. If one target is too difficult to reach, it will easily be abandoned in favor of an easier one.

Cognitive functions are scarce beyond seeing and hearing - however, "word salad" often comes from patients capable of speech, frequently containing thoughts or spoken words from their final moments of lucidity.


Stage 5. "Last Ditch Effort" / Paralytic Form [ 62 - 70 HOURS ]
› After the previous stage's "last push" is complete, patients' bodies begin to shut down. The body succumbs to the virus, leaving the afflicted catatonic and immobilized. In a final attempt to use the host's body to further spread the virus, however, it will use one last strategy: reaching out to the kindness of others.

The patient, despite no longer seeming physically aware of their inability to move, will call for help, plea to anyone they can see, or weep. Any contact with fluids by those attempting to assist will often result in immediate infection.


At the end of his account comes the worst of the news: Mr. Thatcher did not discover a cure for the blight that claimed his hometown. When the Royal Guard arrived to provide assistance, there was little town left; what was left aside was felled to prevent the spread from moving any further.
RESEARCH BEGINS The first step of defeating the plague will be doing background research. Pair up with a research buddy and start looking into the history of Thatcher’s Blight. We will need threads where people locate the following information:

  • The original medical records from physicians in Grier’s Glen regarding Thatcher’s Blight. (The info contained therein can be found OOCly in the “Prognosis” section, but finding it ICly will be important! Plus there’s a lil bonus info there.)
  • The identity of Patient Zero.
  • What Patient Zero is, exactly.


If you believe you are close to acquiring said information, reach out to a mod! If you are correct, you will receive a little digital info card. If not, you will get a clue.

There is a bit of a time buffer between the event’s beginning and when a vaccine can be developed, so use that time to work on this. It’s best if teams work on this simultaneously!

DEVELOPING THE VACCINE This portion of the event, though being narrative, has a mechanical function as well! Thatcher's Blight cannot be cured before 8/18 (which will be a full course of the illness in the earliest townsfolk who contracted it). We will be asking for characters in the medical professions to be rolling a d20.

For a successful trial of the vaccine, a group of participating medical staff must collectively roll at least a sum of 40. Anything lower and the trial fails, and the test subject contracts the Blight as normal. (This means, for ease's sake, if one character rolls an 18, another character can roll a 12, and a third rolls a 10, that third vaccine trial will succeed!) To try again, they must acquire a new volunteer.

Up to 4 people with appropriate medical knowledge can roll per trial, and these are added the same as any separate trials towards that collective 40. Threads with non-medical people assisting medical staff can allow that character to roll at advantage (ex. if Watson and Mulcahy have a thread together, for all trials going forward, Watson can roll 2 dice and submit the higher roll).

The vaccine is cleared for use after 3 successful trials, and is able to be distributed to the rest of the town from there!

VIOLENT OUTBREAK
SOMETHING IN THE AIR The first day is a tense sort of quiet. Every cough or sneeze is fussed over, and everyone in town seems to be holding their breath. Waiting for the other shoe to drop. Pumpkin Hollow’s fantastical problems have always been bad, so no one’s under any illusions that this will be a walk in the park, but there’s always those same early whispers whenever a new horror rears its head. What are we in for this time? How bad will it get? But even as anxiety hangs in the air for the entirety of that first day, even as the flu-like symptoms take hold in seemingly record time and people’s minds grow hazy, there is an uneasy peace that the uninformed might even mistake for things being not so bad. Some victims are even beginning to look better after some rest.

But then, late into the second day, the looping starts. Infected people begin repeating tasks, such as doing the same chores over and over, visiting the same stores and purchasing the same items, and making laps around a specific area for hours. While the infected still seem more lucid, they can’t recall their previous “loops” and will get agitated and even violent if pulled away from their activities. Their loved ones and neighbors will also find them still very contagious.

And by the 48 hour mark, the bloodshed begins in earnest.

QUARANTINE CHAOS The most jarring part of all of this is how quickly the situation devolves from tentative worry into screaming chaos as the third day dawns. The infected begin to rise from their slumber to lay waste to their neighbors, attacking with abrupt and unprovoked violence, breaking into homes and jumping people in the streets. They break skin, break bones, but they do not kill--- at least, not on purpose. At the sight of blood, they immediately abandon their quarry, because killing was never the point. The disease does not want to kill. It wants to spread.

Lockdowns begin swiftly, with the uninfected hunkering down in clinics and easily defendable communal buildings. The most viable shelters are Town Hall or Greymare Library for Downtown Hollow residents, and Prague Mill or Baker Ranch for Northwest Hollowites and those who live on the Bluffs. Leeds Estate is also quite defensible, but it appears that Dahlia shut up her doors and windows well in advance. Those who try to shelter in their homes find that luck is not with them.

However, these locations don’t have the means to maintain a population on their own. Supply runs for medical items and food will need to be organized. Who will brave the danger?

Additionally, each shelter is advised to keep a radio available. The radio tower built adjacent to Town Hall is running as often as possible thanks to Phil Connors and Cecil Palmer. A small militia has been formed by Gerry Keay to keep the radio tower defended at all costs, and he’s happy to recruit more help. Sending stones still function for communication, so it’s best to stay in touch and work together while the medical team develops a cure.

VAXXED UP [ CONCLUSION ] When the research is done and the trials succeed, all it takes is a little more time and a few more materials to produce enough vaccinations for the whole town. And surely someone will set their sights, and their syringe, on Patient Zero.

Despite his general haziness, the moment he sees the needle, he will flee as quickly and as violently as possible. Give chase! Even with the vaccine protecting the islanders, it’s not safe to let this suspicious superspreader go on as-is. And once the island’s strange visitor is soundly subdued, all that remains is to vaccinate the townsfolk and quarantine the remaining unwell animals until the disease runs its course before Thatcher’s Blight is safely behind you.

Although you may want to give everything you own a good scrubbing, just to be safe.

SHELTER IN PLACE (OPT OUT)
Prefer to opt-out? No worries. As soon as Patient Zero arrives, Dahlia begins contacting as many people as she can confirm are healthy under the guise of a “meeting”, providing somewhere safe and comfortable to stay until all this blows over. Don’t worry, there’ll be plenty to do there.
SLUMBER PARTY Word of the afflicted stranger wandering the town hasn’t even reached every ear before Dahlia begins approaching people and insisting they come up to her mansion. She doesn’t use sending stones or even the phone to issue these invites. She simply walks up to you, whether she knows you or not, eyes you suspiciously for a moment, and then informs you that your presence is needed at her estate as soon as possible. “Bring your essentials,” she says vaguely. “And don’t touch anything outside your house until you get to the manor.”

No, she’s not accepting recommendations, requests, or demands for who is allowed to come in. No, she’s not explaining why. No, your relationships with her or others don’t have any bearing either. She is choosing apparently at random--- although, those who know her well might be able to guess that her senses are keen enough to tell her who has been infected, and who has not. If you say no, she will not push, but you get the impression that you probably should not refuse, based on Dahlia’s serious demeanor.

By the end of day one, Dahlia’s gates are locked, and her doors and windows barricaded. Only then does she explain--- including the caveat that the doors will not open, come hell or high water, until the trouble is confirmed to have passed. No one in, no one out, no exceptions.

MURDER MYSTERY MANSION As the days drag on, the waiting grows dull. Not the sort of dreary dullness of calm days spent whiling away the hours, but that sort of anxious boredom characterized by helpless dread. Loved ones are worried after. Attacks at the gates grow more frequent, and louder. Thankfully rations seem plentiful enough in the house of the wealthy heiress, but some of the things dwelling here need to eat things other than what can be found in the cupboard. And it can only be delayed so long.

At some point in the week and change that the plague darkens Pumpkin Hollow’s collective doorstep, Miles Upshur disappears from the manor for a day, evidently snatched up by something or someone he couldn’t see in the middle of the night. Blessedly, he resurrects inside the building, but now there is a new worry--- who, or what, killed Miles? The boredom is swiftly replaced by a whodunnit mystery, but is that better or worse?

For the sake of the timeline not conflicting with House Calls, this will resolve itself within the span of one full week, likely coming to full conclusion by the 23rd. Backtagging is always welcome and encouraged, however!
dubiousfoodie: https://choodraws.tumblr.com/post/744273202369462272 (ulri mountain)

[personal profile] dubiousfoodie 2024-08-20 03:49 am (UTC)(link)
Link isn't usually the kind of person to stay in one place, but he knows the shape of a crisis. As Neil starts cobbling together the makeshift furniture he needs, Link joins in; the glowing mint-green of the Ultrahand can be seen all throughout the shelter, in walls and cots and ladders.

He hurries around to be a helping hand everywhere he can, but he's often found surveying the grounds as well. He climbs its walls, perches on the roof, and dashes through the grasses and the woods surrounding. Plants are foraged to help ease the food demands, but animals are not hunted, just scared off. Link's not risking it.

Prague Mill stays safe. He's making sure of that.
abhorrently: (past.)

[personal profile] abhorrently 2024-08-20 04:28 am (UTC)(link)
It's a bit out of her way, having delivered supplies to another location that's holed up, but Fever's been poring over guides to the local plant life in the library in her downtime. And around here should have what she's searching for and needs to bring back - given the Blight's tendency to latch onto animal life, she doubts it'll affect plants the same way.

But she hears something, something moving, and stands up slow to draw the quarterstaff at her back. Sure, she's masked, but the less something infected is near her, the better.

A person - and she does a quick assessment. He doesn't look ill, but can you be too careful now?
dubiousfoodie: https://syrva.tumblr.com/post/719143032329469952/ (eldin canyon)

[personal profile] dubiousfoodie 2024-08-20 04:35 am (UTC)(link)
Link, too, is masked, and there's the distinctive sound of a bow being drawn taut.

He doesn't look like any lousy shot, either. He keeps both eyes open and trained on this strange woman, slinking like a predator in the bush.

He calls out. "Who are you?"
abhorrently: (temper.)

[personal profile] abhorrently 2024-08-20 04:45 am (UTC)(link)
Coherent sentences are a good sign, and she lowers the quarterstaff a bit.

"My name is Fever. I was sent out for supplies." Wait. "I'm not infected."

However he wants to test that, she'll concede to.
dubiousfoodie: https://www.tumblr.com/emily-e-draws/729755957609070592/ (lindor's brow)

cw euthanasia mention

[personal profile] dubiousfoodie 2024-08-20 04:49 am (UTC)(link)
Okay. The bow lowers. If she was in the stage where she was really willing to use that quarterstaff, he doubts she would have bothered trying to negotiate. She looks focused enough.

"I'm Link. You're near a shelter. Prague Mill. Sorry I threatened you."

He's not looking forward to the moment when he ends up having to put someone down.

"What are you here for?"
abhorrently: (cosmic.)

[personal profile] abhorrently 2024-08-20 05:04 am (UTC)(link)
She puts the staff back in its holster, something of her guard easing. So he's like her, guarding the others. Link has her respect for that, as well as his bow stance. It's hard not to notice the way someone carries themselves when they know their weapon well.

"Plants. I'm from the library - they're needed to help the doctors."

Fever gestures at the ones she had been trying to harvest. They'd be familiar, to a student of the woods and land like Link.
dubiousfoodie: https://syrva.tumblr.com/post/719143032329469952/ (eldin canyon)

[personal profile] dubiousfoodie 2024-08-20 05:11 am (UTC)(link)
He trods closer and peers at the plants she's already gathered. He recognizes it, of course. By now he's familiar with its name, the way they grow, and where to find patches of them in the wood. He also knows vaguely about the way in which poisons can often be used for medicine's purpose.

Still, though. He looks up at Fever, electric blue eyes meeting blood red. "What are they making?"
abhorrently: (staff.)

[personal profile] abhorrently 2024-08-20 05:27 am (UTC)(link)
"They're making a cure for the Blight. And something to stop us from getting it in the first place."

The word vaccine had been said, but it had not been retained in her head. The look in his eyes tells her that he knows this, that she'd have to really sell it to him if she wanted to invent a cure that included it. And maybe she could have, but she decides it's not the time to lie."

"And I'm making something for the worst cases."
dubiousfoodie: https://shellshooked.tumblr.com/post/720181237946482688/ (popla foothills)

[personal profile] dubiousfoodie 2024-08-20 06:09 am (UTC)(link)
Something steely falls across his expression; not a coldness, but certainly a stoniness, in the furrowing of the brow and the lifting of the cheek. His ears lower slightly.

"I know where to find more. Follow me."

Nimble as a lynx, he sets off.
Edited 2024-08-20 08:48 (UTC)
abhorrently: (dawn.)

[personal profile] abhorrently 2024-08-20 09:46 pm (UTC)(link)
He understands, she can tell that much. It's not pleasant, it's not admirable - it's just something that must be done. Until there's a cure, until it stops, the only thing one can really do is aid in small ways. And this also helps the doctors, so intent on saving life. They needn't have to twist themselves into the opposite - that can be saved for bloodier hands.

She follows him without another word, close behind and with light footsteps. If there's more, if this is something that is needed, she'll see if there isn't a way to provide Link with some of the same. This raises none of the dark and bitter urges in her blood, it's just...pure necessity.
dubiousfoodie: https://www.tumblr.com/appaeve/725015217126408193 (sahasra slope)

[personal profile] dubiousfoodie 2024-08-20 10:00 pm (UTC)(link)
And Link knows, in good times and bitter ones, what it’s like to be necessary.

He trots down paths, walks over streams, scrambles up short cliffs. He casts glances every so often to make sure Fever is following, and will sometimes find an alternate route if her athletics come up lacking, but they make it through.

They come upon a glade; mottling the edges and flush throughout are all kinds of wild plants. And there are thousands of tiny white flowers.

“Here,” he says. “I’ll help you.”
abhorrently: (forest.)

[personal profile] abhorrently 2024-08-21 09:46 pm (UTC)(link)
She never complains about it, instead falling into a comforting silence. This is a part of the island she hasn't explored on her own time, and despite everything, despite how they have to be alert for blighted creatures, it's novel. A little like being back in Faerûn.

And they reach it, and it's beautiful - a glade that seems untouched by Blight, a place Fever would linger if there wasn't a task at hand.

Okay. Now that she's been here, now that she knows that Link is here, if they ends up needing more she'll know where to go.

"We need leaves. They can be prepared the right way."

It won't take much, in a full grown man. But some of their fellows are not mortal, and might resist - so it's better to be certain.
dubiousfoodie: https://artsekey.tumblr.com/post/720673073789026304 (gerudo highlands)

[personal profile] dubiousfoodie 2024-08-22 03:26 am (UTC)(link)
"Don't shave the plants. Leave some behind."

Okay. There's work to do.

Link doesn't carry a gathering sickle and never really has; his purposes have generally been in harvesting plants wholesale, whether taking radishes or herbs or sundelions from the ground. The things that did involve cutting tended to regard thicker things, in which a sword would do well enough to sever a pumpkin from its vine.

A three-foot blade is more than a little unwieldy for this work, so instead, he uses the claws of his borrowed hand. He presses them into the soft fibers and severs leaves from stems.

At some point it occurs to him to look up and ask, "How much?"
abhorrently: (constant.)

[personal profile] abhorrently 2024-08-22 07:43 am (UTC)(link)
Fever sets to collecting, using a thin letter opener as a miniature knife. Technically, it belongs to Town Hall, but in the fuss, she doubts anyone was going to go check on office equipment. Besides, it came from her own desk, so it's hers to use or misuse as she pleases.

The hemlock's still going to be upright, stems yielding leaves and still set to live and grow as they would with this much quantity. At Link's question, she looks up, and contemplates this. If one dose needs this much...

Eventually, she settles on an easier explanation, holding up the small bunch she has and then indicating how big it should get. Easier than exact numbers - it won't be a terribly large amount, but it's more than the few plants before could spare.
dubiousfoodie: https://www.tumblr.com/appaeve/725015217126408193 (sahasra slope)

[personal profile] dubiousfoodie 2024-08-22 08:34 pm (UTC)(link)
Link nods. Easy enough.

It's a beautiful day. The glade is lovely and the world is alive; birds and crickets sing, and Link cuts another piece of hemlock.

He finds himself glancing over at Fever more than once. She has him curious; she definitely knew how to use that quarterstaff, he could tell, and she isn't shying from doing unpleasant work. Stern, quiet... with white hair, red eyes, and pointed ears.

"You can fight," he remarks. "Are you Sheikah?"
abhorrently: (chance.)

[personal profile] abhorrently 2024-08-23 06:56 am (UTC)(link)
The question has her looking up, eyes wide in genuine confusion.

"Define Sheikah for me? I don't know that word offhand, but then again, I don't know a lot of things. I don't remember a lot of my life, actually."

It's as much a fact as the scar across her face.
dubiousfoodie: https://artsekey.tumblr.com/post/720673073789026304 (gerudo highlands)

[personal profile] dubiousfoodie 2024-08-23 08:15 pm (UTC)(link)
Link's head tilts, eyes wide and curious. There are two dialogue options topics to address here. He's gonna go with the most interesting one first.

"Me neither."
Edited 2024-08-23 20:15 (UTC)
abhorrently: (patience.)

[personal profile] abhorrently 2024-08-24 03:18 am (UTC)(link)
"You too? On purpose, or did something happen?"

There was Shadowheart, but she did it on purpose. Not like her, where it just ended up occurring.
dubiousfoodie: https://www.tumblr.com/appaeve/725015217126408193 (sahasra slope)

[personal profile] dubiousfoodie 2024-08-24 06:07 am (UTC)(link)
"I died." Pauses. "Years ago. It disappeared when I returned."

He thinks for a moment. He doesn't normally share much of his hero stuff with strangers, but... that's mostly because he's so sick of being a public image. Here? Nobody knows him. He's been here for months, and... nobody's really bothered him. His demeanor advances from reclusiveness to hermitude when he's not one of the most well-known people on the continent. So.

"It was in a war. But they still needed me. I heard a voice, coming back. She said my name--'Link.' That's why I know it."
Edited 2024-08-24 06:11 (UTC)
abhorrently: (pause.)

[personal profile] abhorrently 2024-08-24 07:15 am (UTC)(link)
She nods in a slow way, the sort that's there when the idea of resurrection long after you should be dead isn't such a strange one to grasp hold of. It makes perfect sense, if his soul had already yielded to death - why would it need to hold onto all its memories? But then to call him back...things must have been dire indeed. Hopeless enough to raise the dead.

"Did she at least explain what was going on, when you woke up? That's a lot for anyone to have to take in."
dubiousfoodie: https://www.tumblr.com/appaeve/725015217126408193 (sahasra slope)

[personal profile] dubiousfoodie 2024-09-06 03:48 am (UTC)(link)
He nods. "She said... I was light. The world was Hyrule. And I must save it. In Hyrule Castle, there was... the manifestation of hatred. I must destroy it."

As it turns out, as much as he should probably open up about himself and his whole deal to people more, he still gets the heebie-jeebies when he has to go into too much depth about the things that people admire him for. Unfortunately, it's so difficult not to when his whole life has revolved around it.

Maybe it'll help if...

"Do you know sign?" he asks.
abhorrently: (just.)

[personal profile] abhorrently 2024-09-09 04:03 am (UTC)(link)
"If I do, it's not conscious. But...I'm willing to watch you, and see if it sparks anything in my head."

If some long buried instinct comes back, or some attempt at understanding him in a way that might be easier. She'll have to trust her intuition, but...