thisavrou_log | The Hannya Mask

Who: Event Post | Open
When: Dec. 5th - 15th
Where: Around Avagi
What: A demon is haunting the station, spurred on by emotional responses. More information can be found here.
Warnings: Violence, possible death, body horror, etc.

THE HAUNTING

The onryō starts making her first patrols in the early morning when most people are comfortably asleep and not wanting to wake up. The sense of unease she creates is palpable, and initially she just looks at who is around. She chooses in the dark who she should be angry with, who is a foolish idiot for making her mistakes and who is an ignorant soul who ignored the anguish of someone else's attention. Everyone else is unimportant.

Occasionally, rarely though, she'll stop and look at something. Usually carved or drawn or molded, something someone used their hands to create. The very faintest of scraps of who she used to be, though that's barely significant. There's not enough left of that self to deter her from stopping more of the foolishness that damned her.

The Noh mask appears the same day, the same time as her first investigations get underway, and there it remains, conveniently close to where the Ingress once was.

The mask will always return to this original state the moment it's not being observed. It'll be returned to its resting place. If it's been destroyed or altered or damaged in any way, it'll be back to the state that it was when previously examined (even permanent marker would disappear).

It's made of cypress wood and is covered in layers of chalk paint and a glue-like sealant. On the back is a raised signature, indicating that it was handmade by an artisan. On closer examination (like swabbing or enhanced senses or super scanner) there's a bit of smoke damage, but otherwise it's not been worn many times. The straps attached are hardly frayed at all. However it's aged, it's not from scuffing or rough handling.

There might not be much time to notice or to bother with it, though. Not when people are being hunted in the shadows, when quick hands reach out from cabinets or a hunched form hangs upside down from underneath a table, waiting for someone to sit down too close to her.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Unlocking the clamps on his boots, Nihlus lets the reel pull him forwards, skidding over the flooring, until he hits the steel table legs feet-first. This close and he sees it- properly sees it- the dark hole that was threatening to swallow the other Turian alive, the long, black, fibrous strands snaking over her leg armor and the face peering up from the depths-

Shoving his flesh arm under Vetra's shoulders, he braces, unlocks his grapple hand from her cowl- shoots it off at the nearest load bearing beam instead. Heaves up with all of his might to compensate. ]

Stop wasting ammo! [ he orders sharply, voice strained and shoulders burning. ] Omni-blade! I'm going to put some slack into the tether and when I do, you cut!

[A few rounds ping sharply off the face. The thing snarls, the grip on her ankle tightening in response. For a brief moment, she hangs there, suspended between this thing, her grip on the edge of the table, and the other turian.]

[For a moment, she debates just up and kicking this thing with her free foot.]

[Instead, the flare of orange is all the answer she gives. Not bothering to speak and waste breath she could better use keeping her ass alive. The omni-tool lighting the dark space under the table.]

[The thing shrills.]

[ Photophobia?

No time for further analysis. Use information, push risk, push advantage. Nihlus hooks his hock around the bolted down table leg- then lets the reel spin. The force of the creature's pull drags them downwards almost immediately, but there's there enough space for Vetra to lean forwards and cut.

It's a split second. All they have is a split second before it takes advantage of the new give. ]

[And cut she does. She's no Spectre, she's not even military trained. But Vetra Nyx is never one to waste an opportunity. She slams her hand forward, the omni-blade ignited and slicing through what tethers them together.]

[It has the added advantage of sending the creature scurrying back further, hissing and yelling like something out of a kett horror story.]

Clear!

[ The pull of the tether is already snapping them back before the word leaves Vetra's mouth. Nihlus' head slams against the underside of the table in an effort to stop a similar fate befalling the other Turian's less-armored skull. The reel whines, deafeningly loud, as it drags them out.

As soon as they slow to a skidding stop in the middle of the alley, Nihlus pushes her to her feet, the distant sound of his grapple hand releasing its grip ringing out from somewhere above them. ]

Turn your omni-tool to its brightest setting, [ he hisses through the twinging at the roots of his fringe, mechanical wrist clicking back into place. ] Flashlight, screens, activate all of it.

[Now that she's out from under the damn table, she gets a look at what it is that's screeching and whirring -- his arm? The hell? What kind of armor mod is that?]

[But it's a fleeting thought. One that gets shoved aside for later, as she's keeping her omnitool active. Slapping the sequence in that ignites her power armor, the holographic overlay indicators glowing bright in the dark. Her teeth grit. Keeping her weight as balanced as possible.]

Way ahead of you...! [Now that she's got both hands free, she can do it, at least.]

[ Nihlus doesn't offer much by way of acknowledgement, his own arms already lit up with every screen he had a shortcut for. He's far more focused on grabbing the taller Turian and making a break for the nearest well-lit hallway. ]

Run! Go go go!

[ And if Vetra so much as looks like she might limp, he's going to carry her out of here, so help him Spirits. ]

The Hannya Mask

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