The settlement of Mourning Glory was a hotspot of activity thanks to Motor City Mayhem- a gauntlet of races and showmanship hosted by the Fords. Many showed up in souped up rides- or built them on the fly to prepare for the race. Unfortunately tires were not the only thing gaining speed as the weekend went on.
Friday night, Minister-General No.Vi was seen carrying in another familiar face- Little Shit Lord, or LSL for short. LSL was not looking too good, the fact of this made clear by No.Vi, who turned out to be her mother. Before anyone could help, LSL’s chest was ripped open and a small, gore covered worm slithered its way out. It was too late to save LSL, and this realization caused the Minister-General to murder citizen Bando McLane and greviously injure others. Luckily, she was talked down by traveler Candy Hearts and local Cass Avenue before more damage could be done, and she left to wait for her daughter in the morgue.
Later that night, the Dominion, led by engineer Arc, attacked and infected people with Parasitic Cryptosis- which seemed to be the same unusually fast-moving condition that had killed LSL. With only hours to save each victim, the race to find a cure quickly began, with folks colloquially calling it the “Bad Wiggler.” A sighting was made of a quadrupedal creature, thought to have killed a poor DJ. Those with Animal Lore realized it was a man-made being, and its head was taken back to be researched. Before much progress could be made, the head disintegrated and left more questions than answers.
Saturday brought the races, and the first event- a bloody Tri-race-athlon- was won by local DJ Rivet. With great sadness, racer Vinx perished during the trial, but came back from the Gravemind determined to finish the races. The second event was the Pitstop Punch-a-Thon, won by a punchy Copper. The Stunt Spectacular made up the third event, and the prize went to Rivet once again. The final two events- the dangerous Obstacle Course race and the sneaky Dusk Dread race- were both won by local DJ Johnny Fairplay, making him the overall winner of the races.
The Dominion weren’t too keen on letting the races go on so smoothly though. During the day, a group of Dominion soldiers once again attacked the town, slaying folks in the process and using Raiders to infect others with more parasites. On top of that, packs of the strange dog-like creatures would attack alongside worms, seemingly trying to infect more people. A conflict with Arc resulted in his capture and interrogation, at which point he revealed that the Dominion’s current greatest threat against the town was “Specimen 31” and its “fully matured” form.
Research continued, with much gore and screaming, and a very well composed chalkboard theory by GODMONEY. Finally, the researchers realized that using enough poison to kill a Strain, and then bringing them back from bleedout, would kill the developing worm inside— as long as it wasn’t “old” enough to fight the toxins off. The new procedure was performed on the infected as their clocks ticked closer to death, and many were saved. What wasn’t so great was the large creature, bigger than the “dogs”, that suddenly burst into town, using psionic compulsion to force people to do its bidding. It seemed like the fully adult version of the worms, and townsfolk rallied to take it and its companions down.
While racers revved their engines and parasites exploded out of people, a Dead Zone was discovered by local doctors. Stepping into it caused a downsurge of one Infection- a deadly price to pay. When enough information was collected, a plan was enacted to heal cancerous gravemind growths that had appeared in the area. Radioactive zed and Geminis attacked, and the town had to hold them off while others worked their medicine. They were successful in removing the root cause of the contagion, and slowing the Dead Zone’s progress. But it seems the problems will still persist so long as the Dominion continues polluting our home.
Now let’s talk about the clowns! Saturday night, a birthday party was held for Junior, Moxie and Jay’s little boy! There was a cake, decorations, and even a pinata! Nevermind that the pinata was a person. Those in Mourning Glory were not a fan of this, and quickly set out to crash the party. They were not able to save the pinata, who was murdered by Junior himself, and the festivities swiftly went sour. Luckily, a few folks were able to smooth things over with the Rogue’s Gallery members before they left… though we’ll see this trade if that carries over.
Finally, Allegro Ford and Lord Executioner Essex Anastasia of Requiem appeared Sunday morning to announce a new trade agreement between Mourning Glory, Requiem, and Bravado. Townsfolk and travelers signed the agreement as witnesses, and a new era of trade has begun between the three towns. Let’s hope this chaotic settlement doesn’t blow it up.