Long Game 105 - Aftermath: Just Another Expedition

[The Unknown Medallion he/him]

Long Game 105 - Aftermath: Just Another Expedition 

This is the story of an expedition. A journey into a strange wilderness, full of bizarre creatures. It's a story of a Medic, trying to keep that expedition safe, at the expense of themselves. It's the story of a Linguist, searching through the words that tell the story of this Forgotten Coast, and finding only lies. It's the story of a Surveyor, searching tirelessly, without pause, and only finding the truth at the last moment.

It's a story of failure, because Area X always wins. Everyone is always replaced. Nobody ever goes back across that border unchanged. The Linguist returned utterly broken. The Surveyor never returned, living in Area X until the end of their days.

The others? Some would say they never returned. What returned merely shared their faces, their memories. Perhaps you think that's enough, perhaps you think it was always Theseus’ Ship. 

But there will be another expedition. There always is. And it always ends the same.

~

The Wandering Wizard has completed his win condition just in the nick of time!

Everyone has been replaced by doppelgangers! 

A new rule has been revealed:

Housekeeping:

<snip>

Everyone will win, how they win is the question.

TJ completed the Return win condition on Day Four. He also completed the Return Anew win condition Day Eight, making him the only double winner. Be more like TJ.

The Wandering Wizard completed the Discover the Secret of Area X win condition on Day Eight. He also discovered it on Day Seven, so he was much more efficient than the rest of you.

Everyone else completed the Return Anew win condition on Day Eight! 

Ashbringer, who was the first doppelganger, and saw them through til the end.

Quivil, who should have been the first doppelganger (Ash stole their glory with an unlucky heal), and single handedly executed everyone who stood in their way.

Illwei, who valiantly took up Polly’s mantle, and would have completed the Escape Along the Coast win condition, if they had remembered to put their action in.

RBM, who chugged along, exploring until they discovered Discover the Secret of Area X win condition on Day Three. They also would have completed it if they had remembered to send an action in.

Hoid, who spent half the game hypnotized by Polly and the other half collecting information from descriptions of my writeups. While I admire your effort, they were fully irrelevant.

And Polly, you didn't make it all the way through, but you'll be remembered for dragging Hoid along by his ear then making Illwei deal with the consequences. 

~

I can't speak for the rest of you, but I really enjoyed GMing this game. Congratulations to everyone, and thanks for playing the madness that was this game.

My GM thoughts can be found scattered throughout the Spec doc:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZiiDeGhn2VAsAuxbi4m8fooxcUoyfeVpyEVwfxsCz8o/edit?usp=drivesdk

I might make a post to sum them up, but I wouldn't count on it. I've done enough writing for this game.

You can find every Exploration PM in the Prewriting doc:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/15rTHZkNdwEoKHlj0p1BvaFUC3AmZdnOjKCVDTTVGesg/edit?usp=drivesdk

You can find everyone's actions and some of the Vote counts in the Mastersheet:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1KFtWs7kZTRLDlHqSQipCT2phoIT4JvnXG-b03W-_rdA/edit?usp=drivesdk

You can find the schemes of the doppelgangers, as well as some mad ramblings, in the Elim doc:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YF2JSDDDBk9c5lgTzDHqRXLjXhSdPtVBTT7PdDWRnm8/edit?usp=drivesdk

And you can find the entirety of these rules in the Full Spoilers rules document:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/15rTHZkNdwEoKHlj0p1BvaFUC3AmZdnOjKCVDTTVGesg/edit?usp=drivesdk

Spoiler

(The real link can be found in the spec doc)

Players:

Spoiler

1. @|TJ| Linguist
2. @KelsierApologist  @IllweiPsychologist 
3. @The Wandering Wizard Surveyor
4. @Ashbringer Medic
5. @Quivil Biologist Team Leader
6. @Hoid Slayer  Anthropologist 
7. @RoyalBeeMage Archeologist

 

Edited May 16, 2025 by The Unknown Area

[Hoid Slayer He/Him]

Not-Adam stood in the dark. He should be happy. It was over. The Intruders were gone. The others were celebrating. Not-Adam couldn't share in their joy.

...

Twelve year old Adam wept. He did his best to block out the witch's wrath, covering his ears, curling up in a corner of the room. But it didn't help. Nothing could block the screams she directed at his sister. His sister; his champion. Since their parent's death, she had fought the witch, standing the ground for the both of them. Her flesh was covered in hidden bruises and scars, carried from previous fights. Fights she always survived.

Tonight was different. Tonight the blows against her seemed like they would never stop. Adam felt like he should stand alongside his sister, protect her. But he couldn't. The fire rushed in his veins, but it never burst through. It just shimmered softly, fading into a puddle of pathetic sparks. And their aunt kept releasing her fury.

...

Not-Adam trembled, and he grabbed the lighthouse railing for support. Looking out over the ocean, the seas, the water claimed by his people. They were only beginning to explore their potential. He should be with them. But in his heart simmered a different fire.

He turned his tortured gaze from the waves, and looked up at the remaining wall. There was another balcony, up there. Slowly, not-Adam let go of the railing, and began to make his way up.

...

Adam trembled. Trapped in his head, it took him a moment to realize his aunt was speaking to him. He refused to meet her gaze, tears streaming down his shaking head, buried in his knees. But her fury didn't come. Instead, she just delivered a single, sharp command.

"Go down. Leave us alone."

Adam picked himself up, and in the instant he met his sister's eyes, he finally saw the pain hidden behind her tough exterior. It hit him like a train. She was broken. He wished so much to be able to hold her, to support her. She was strong. So strong. Not like Adam. He was already half out the door, and he couldn't bring himself to meet her gaze as he left her for the final time. Adam turned his back on his sole defender, and stepped into the dark.

...

The doppelgangers were adapted to the dark. Not-Adam needed no light to guide him up the musty, broken stairs. Instead, he walked alone, feeling the sweat in his palms of flesh, hearing the ragged breathing of his lungs. Alone with the voices. They fought for control in his head, and he couldn't tell which way was up. The voices that had consumed him yesterday, rendering him incapable of completing the tasks set for him. No matter. The others had done it well. No one needed him now.

No one would miss him.

...

Adam stumbled out of the motel lobby, and immediately began to cry once more. The cold air hit him like a blast, and his ragged breathing made puffs in the air. It was dark, and the cheap lights around him flickered or failed entirely. Adam forced himself to move away from the entrance, and made his way around the corner of the two-story building before collapsing against the wall.

He panted from exhaustion, despite having done little physical activity. His back ached against the grainy plaster of the wall, and he found his mind pulled down by the current. A million thoughts raced through his head. Voices. Screams. He shut his eyes, and tried to force them out of his head. But they stayed, and they wouldn't go. They wouldn't go.

...

Not-Adam finally reached the final steps, and hesitated for a moment at the doorway. Then the voices returned, and he kept walking.

...

A crash sounded from nearby, the shattering of a cheap glass window. That in itself shocked Adam, sending ripples down his back. He hesitated, and then came the thump. It arrived a few seconds after the crash, nearby. It was just around the corner. In the direction of their room. Adam shivered in the cold, and knew he couldn't stay here forever. In the bitter silence, Adam closed his eyes one last time before steeling himself, and began walking.

...

Once more, the ocean appeared before not-Adam as he crossed the balcony. Once more, his hands gripped the railing, cold to his human touch. He turned around one last time, looking back at the mainland. Where the others already prepared for the next human expedition. He would never see them again. Never say goodbye.

...

Adam rounded the corner, and found her. Her eyes, minutes before shining with righteous fury, now gazed empty into the sky. Adam choked out a sob, and collapsed to his knees before her broken body. His clothes, dirty and wet, squelched into the mud, where blood had already begun to seep in from the wound where a sole knife stuck out of her chest. Adam gripped her shirt with his trembling hands, and buried his face among its folds. The pain wracked his body, streaming where the fire had once burned. Or pretended to burn. A mix of flesh and tears, he wailed in the empty space, clutching the body of his sister, and let the sorrow envelop him.

...

Not-Adam turned back to the steel railing, and he took a deep breath. Then the first leg went over.

...

For what felt like an eternity, Adam lost himself in that moment. Finally, he tore his face out of his sister's body, and turned it up to the sky. The raindrops fell in a torrent, mixing with his tears and her blood, a dark concoction. Through the flood, he caught a glimpse of a light reflected through the broken pieces of a window. Shattered. Then the light in the room above went out, and all that was left was darkness. The pain returned, and Adam no longer tried to fight. His body tore with sobs. His mind tore with grief. Broken. Breaking. He couldn't take it anymore.

...

Not-Adam swung the other leg over, tears streaming down his face. He stood now over the abyss, barely hanging on to the railing behind him. Every cell in his body trembled, and he shut his eyes. He couldn't fight the pain. But he couldn't take it anymore.

...

Somewhere in the maze of feeling, Adam was dimly aware of voices coming from afar. His mind struggled to sort out what was happening. They were coming to investigate... investigate the crash... the thump... his sister... his sister. The wave returned, and Adam's body wracked once more. And then... something within him shattered. Adam opened his eyes, still holding his sister's body. But the pain was gone. In its place was a numbness. And a pleasure. A small, crooked grin began to form in his mouth.

Why was he crying?

What was he doing?

The wave had passed. Or maybe it had never left.

Slowly, carefully, Adam stood up. The voices came closer, became clearer. Someone had called the police. Without looking back, Adam turned and began to approach them, leaving his sister behind.

...

This body... it was broken. It was broken so much worse than the mortal had ever imagined.

Not-Adam could barely contain the pain within him now. As soon as he had taken control of the body, it had returned. All of it. It ran free within him now. He would bear it no longer.

Wearing the body of a dead man, not-Adam stepped out into the abyss.

And finally let the dark claim him.

[Ashbringer he/him]

For a second I thought my order of “just turn Wiz into a doppleganger” fully was an option this entire time

[The Unknown Medallion he/him]

1 minute ago, Ashbringer said:

For a second I thought my order of “just turn Wiz into a doppleganger” fully was an option this entire time

I almost sent you a "You successfully converted Wiz" message.

[Quivil]

Yay! We all win!