#overlay event

Running theory number two: Time travel.

Running theory number three: Aliens.

Running theory number four, and probably the most plausible:

At some point, somehow, I took an unwitting nosedive into the Caravaneer’s peyote stash—which I’m damned sure he totally has—and am currently tripping on more balls than a stampede of Konchu.

Well, okay.

Really, what can she do to interpret this? It’s not just chaos, it’s chaotic chaos. Not your garden variety chaos. This ain’t some run of the mill, “Kushala Daora stomped through Dundorma and now all hell has broken loose” chaos, it’s like that but multiplied by a seemingly endless swarm of, uh... mmmmaybe Lynian lookin’ creatures? Trying to jump people. People in some funky lookin’ duds. That and what looks to be architecture flickering in and out of view as though ripples in water.

There’s also the hole. Poor confused Yoli considers just jumping down the looming abyss and seeing where the rest of this psychedelic vision takes her, but ends up just standing there bemusedly as the carnage continues to fiercely erupt around her.

The strange Lynian-esque critters mostly seem to avoid her. Maybe it’s the armor? Good thing she’s been rocking the big bad Gore getup lately. Thinking of her equipment, she realizes her recent gunlance isn’t saddled to her back, but instead there’s a greatsword planted in the ground next to her, blade-down like the cut tail of a Glavenus.

Classic bone jawblade, huh? How nostalgic. Don’t mind if I do. She plucks the weapon with a heave and fastens it to her backstrap.

This is clearly not Val Habar where she’d last been, nor Cathar where she’d been heading to. Wherever it is, it’s unlike any place she’d ever seen in her many travels. Sort of impressive in and of itself, that. Thus, she thinks, perhaps some explanation of an unusual nature had to be the culprit. She mulls over this as she walks, uncertain. Running theories abound as she observes the scene, cautious, curious.

...Yes, perhaps that’s just it. This is all far too sensational to be much of a dream. Hallucination’s far more likely.

          “ Interested in going on a little adventure? Maybe we’ll find a few damsels for you to rescue on the way. ”

This pretty stranger seemed to be quite the flirt, even despite the tension in Spirale; there was no guarantee that monsters wouldn’t eventually breach the invisible barriers around the construction points before ten days passed. Nor was there a way to tell if everyone had arrived safely, so some might still be struggling to survive. Of course, this stranger’s talents were wasted in such a dire situation: none of the girls so far had responded favorably to his advances. At least it meant he had free time to spare for the phantom thief’s request.

I’m keen on jumping into this event with full fervor, so like this post to be contacted via IM about a thread. (I’m on Discord and Twitter too, so let me know if you’d prefer those!) There are a wealth of monsters originating from the hunter’s world which could show up per details of the Overlay event, and it’d sure be fun to tackle some.

          “ Fate has such an odd sense of humor. I never would have guessed that a primal beast could be transformed into a cat, of all things. ”

Not that Chat Noir was complaining. Luminiera made for such a cute kitten, and she certainly did act the part. He’d run into the primal beast and her mistress while building a few robots to help protect the construction site that they currently inhabited ( he didn’t wholly trust that the invisible barriers would hold, what with how the monsters were strangely attracted to the area ).

How the tables had turned. The last time they’d met, Fray had been situated high above the phantom thief, but on this particular occasion, Chat Noir was perched atop a building, his long legs dangling over the edge. At the moment, the heavily armored knight was easily tearing through the monsters that plagued Spirale, dark mist following every flick of their heavy blade.

Having his powers returned for five minute intervals only made the slinky thief bolder, as if he needed any extra reason to cause trouble. How could he resist messing with such an edgy and intense warrior?

The belly beneath this city is a strange labyrinth. A poorly placed foothold had been the last amount of weight one unfortunate bit of ruin could take, and it’d sent Yoli sliding into a sunken pit, the collapsed road revealing an opening into the sewer tunnels underneath. The entire area seems unstable, infrastructure dank with rot having buckled in many places under the weight of the buildings above.

Cautious but curious, the hunter sets herself to trekking through this series of blocks. Might as well be thorough while she’s down here.

It’s interesting. The way the road buckles into the sewer and back out again is reminiscent of ruinous caves she’s been through before. If she listens hard enough, it’s almost as though Yoli can hear the distant screech of a Khezu echoing through the abandoned hazard zone. Or is that just the wind howling? Strange for such a still-winded day.

Weird how none of those smaller greenish critters seem to be skulking around this place either, she observes. Their tracks are present, but judging by the direction they all seem to have exited en masse—as though they were running away from something. There’s tracks that look like human footprints too. Perhaps pursuing, or...?

She gazes at the ground, ruminating over the signs of the area. This is when she stumbles across the head.

A head. There’s just a disembodied head bobbing gently in a puddle, square in the middle of the sunken road before her.

Yeah, that... that ain’t right. Cautious, Yoli extends a foot, gingerly turning the head over with the clawed toe on her greave. Yikes. Is that...?

Squinting beneath her helm she stoops and gently picks it up, turning it in armored hands to get a better look at the sever point. There’s a telltale pattern of trauma there, a round cut made by teeth arranged like an inverted circular saw.

Maybe she hadn’t been hearing things after all? These bite marks look awfully similar to—

A hunch crests her spine and Yoli gets a sudden impulse to look up, craning her head to get a look at the silhouette of a stranger standing at the edge of the roadway above.

“Uh.”

Oh gog she’s still holding the head. Flustered, she rids herself of the head on impulse—abruptly throwing it away with both hands, sending it rolling into the sewer. She watches it hit the water with a soft plunk, then looks back up at the surely-wary-by-now stranger.

Yoli had never been much of an ocean hunter; she’d figured any reason to remove herself from the seashore would be a good one.

What she hadn’t envisioned was to see an awfully familiar shadow pass overhead, accompanied by an unmistakable roar. She’d be damned. Figures that the King of the Skies would show its hide, if only to one-up the King of the Seas.

Groaning resignedly, the hunter set herself to following. Evidence thus far suggests it’d be attracted to one of those beacons, at least if its behavior were anything similar to the monsters sighted here thus far.

It’s an odd phenomenon to say the least, and a worrying one, but what else is she to do? Mere detached observation would be to allow the monster to rampage, and with this many people around, that simply isn’t an option.

So she follows the signs: fallen scales, claw and char marks tracing a winding path, one clearly gravitating toward that strange red light.

The hunter fears for a moment that she’s found it too late when she finally sights the beast: it’s got someone cornered between buildings, flames lapping the sides of its jaws. How did that even happen? The position and condition of the architecture is strange—like a brand new wall had been built in the middle of a crumbling alley, almost as though it had appeared spontaneously.

It’s clear enough that it wouldn’t be all that smart to go up and brazenly smack it in the ass with her greatsword, but she needs a distraction lest the person in the alley meets an untimely fate.

So Yoli does the next best thing: She picks up a brick, winds up and flings it at the Rathalos’ head. The good news is that it hits it square on the side of the head, and the person in the alley is freed from its attention. The bad news is that she’s now got a pissed-off monster coming straight for her.

...Actually, the bad news isn’t just that, it’s that her path out has suddenly turned into a solid wall. A beautiful, shining new structure seems to have appeared out of thin air in just the perfect position to totally ruin her plan.

Curse this damnable vision! Just how long were these hallucinations going to last?

Well, one thing is clear: Her and the other person are corralled in with an enraged wyvern, and there’s no telling when an opportunity for escape will present itself. For now all Yoli can do is steady her greatsword as the Rathalos spews a burst of fire at her. Shielding herself with the flat of the blade, she grunts, trying to call out to her fellow in this predicament: