T/W: I like congee and this ain't it...
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"Do help them understand the unfortunate situation." Kim Jihun's eyes gleamed under the fire.
It suddenly occurred to Thanh Van then that there was a possibility Kim Jihun was also unaware of what was happening on this island. Thus he gained info through father Pierre's yapping as well. Then why would the system place him as a bishop instead of a regular seaman like the rest?
As Thanh Van pondered over this, father Pierre let out a strangled sigh, his shoulders drooping as he spread his hands over the table. "The truth is, we on this island do not know the specifics of the world outside, either."
… What the fuck?!
The players cursed in their minds at the same time. Thanh Van was sure the system was messing with him at this point. Even Kim Jihun's perfectly calm visage was slowly cracking.
"We only heard news passed on by the seamen who often stopped by our island. It spreads like wildfire, they said. The south has lost the battle. The only way to shield ourselves is to stop consuming meat. It spreads through the animals, they said. We paid them no attention. The king had not yet reacted. Why should we?"
Father Pierre's skin appeared waxy before the fires, hollow eyes reflecting the surrounding darkness. "Soon, those men never came by again."
The lute had stopped playing. A chilling wind curled through the clearing. The players no longer cared about the food, huddling closer for warmth.
"That day, the soldiers arrived."
Soft steps echoed from all around them now, coming closer. Just enough for them to hear over the crackling fire. The players shifted over their seats, quietly moving closer to each other.
"They demanded all the doctors in our village to board the ship and sail out to the mainland to help the infected."
The player's eyes flickered between father Pierre and the darkness, over the blurred outlines of houses that stood crooked and long, reaching out to them.
"The soldiers told us to stop consuming meat, and all who arrived on our island must wait for 10 days before docking. Once infected, death would occur within 10 days. This way, we would be safe."
The steps grew louder. Feet hit the wet stone road at rapid speed. The players twisted in their seats, but all they saw was the depths of the void. Just out of reach, a predator hiding within the tall grass.
"So we slaughtered and burned all our livestock. Even the birds in the sky were not spared. This is the only way we have stayed protected until now. In the end, the soldiers… they took everything from us, and left us with only-"
Father Pierre's voice died abruptly.
A man stood tall in the shadows, form obscured by the darkness behind him, features blurred, saved for his outline.
The players gazed at the still man, and a slight chill ran down their spines. Even from those shadows, they could feel him watching.
"... Mayor Jean?" Surprise etched father Pierre's face as he stood up, eyes thinning towards the silhouette of a man partly obstructed by the fountain. "Is that you?"
No answer.
Thanh Van studied the silhouette, gaze running over the lumpy limbs, the unnaturally big head propped over a deformed torso, the neck that slightly crooked to the left, struggling under the weight.
Fingers twitched ever so slightly, bending out of shape. Even from a distance of 20 steps, Thanh Van could hear him rasp and sputter with every heave for air, the light wind carrying over the scent of rotting flesh.
Thanh Van saw it then, how the lumps over the man's body moved with a life of its own, squirming and trembling, each bulbous mass the size of goose eggs.
"W-what the fuck is that?!" Hai Le screamed out - too late.
What was left of the mayor barrelled forward with inhuman speed. The players stumbled as they hurried to stand up and get out of the way, the sudden chaos deafening.
Sergeant Kruger stood up, dragging Thanh Van up with him just as the mass of squirming and trembling flesh crashed into the long table, sending trays of food flying. Blackened fingers scratched at the wood, leaving behind lines of dried blood and rotten pieces of skin.
Someone bumped into Thanh Van, and he stumbled - sergeant Kruger's strong grip the only thing holding him from plunging face-first over the bloody mess.
The body of mayor Jean convulsed onto the ground, limbs bending and twisting out of shape. His skin had taken on an ashy grey colour, the bulbous mass over his face and body filled with blood, sacks of crimson fluid hanging off his skeleton.
Under the light of the bonfire, his ghastly skin stretched and pulled to the point of see-through, as he groaned and growled in pain.
"H-hepl… p-PLEASE—"
The players screamed and fumbled, trying to get away from the fingers that clawed at their pants, tearing at the fabric in a frantic panic to survive.
Christof Kunze was the unlucky bastard, having seated right where mayor Jean crashed into. Until now, he had hidden beneath the table, hoping to god that the flimsy wood on four legs could protect him.
Red, bloodshot eyes quivered when they located Christof. Black talon-like fingers wrapped around Christof's ankle, tearing at his flesh before yanking him from beneath the table. The strength was enough to dislocate his leg.
A miserable 'crack' sounded.
Christof screeched.
"Help - get - get THIS THING OFF ME! GET IT OFF- GET IT OFF!"
Christof flopped onto his stomach, nails clawing at the stone pavement, screaming and flailing. His left foot caught the bulbous mass over mayor Jean's forehead and it burst under pressure.
Blackened blood and white, wriggling maggots poured out of mayor Jean's skull, a bloody congee of twitching and slithering horror in search of their new host.
"NO! Fuck, HELP ME! HELP ME!"
The players were too stunned by the scene unfolding before them to move. Sergeant Kruger's hold over Thanh Van tightened, holding him back.
Kim Jihun was the only one to react, stomping on mayor Jean's arm until bones fractured and the grip on Christof loosened.
A bone-chilling howl tore through mayor Jean's lungs, and Kim Jihun stumbled back towards the fountain, pulling Christof away from the writhing man's reach.
They could only watch in frozen terror as bulbous masses quivered under mayor Jean's sickly, white flesh. It peeked from beneath his loose and torn shirt, revealing an enormous, squirming mass over where his jutting ribs should have been, growing fast.
Mayor Jean's spine arched violently-
the entire abdomen ruptured. His ribcage split open, blood exploding over the players.
Clumpy crimson splattered across the table, over the scattered food. It seeped through their clothing and coated their visions.
Mayor Jean squirmed for a torturous second more before his bloodshot eyes stared into nothing, his limbs falling still, dead.
The players stood in perfect silence. The foul stench of rotting flesh was all that they could smell and taste.
Christof wheezed and trembled from pain and fear, clinging to Kim Jihun like a drowning man.
Only one player's eyes gleamed with surprise and even excitement.
A growing itch travelled beneath Thanh Van's skin as his gaze fell on the mass of still pulsating, rotting flesh and the wriggling white parasites that feasted on mayor Jean's blackened intestines.
This…
This was no famine village.
[Scenario 1, introduction complete.]
[Players, welcome to: Plague Village]