expiationlogs | {EVENT #3} ADVERSITY 1665648.6754

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{EVENT #3} ADVERSITY 1665648.6754

INTO THE DESERT

MOD NOTES:

Please direct any questions to the corresponding comment below. Note that character decisions and actions taken on these prompts will affect future events, storylines, and relationships with other peoples of Expiation.

You can find the OOC poll here. Please pick from the corresponding options with the appropriate character journal. If you use a personal journal or a journal not part of Expiation, your votes will not be counted. Remember that if your character did something different than what is in the prompts given, leave a comment in the OOC poll entry and link to your comment in the option made available.

We will provide an IC post in exactly one week with the results of the poll that will wrap up the event. You may mingle on it if you like, but the most important purpose is to share the effects of character decisions on this event.

The various prompts are, of course, optional.

FOLLOW THE FAIRIES

On the morning of the 14th, Chosen will wake to the sound of loud clanging outside as what seems like a band of fairies has arrived to town. Most of them don’t talk, they simply stare expectantly as they float above the ground and gain the attention of the Chosen. If a character tries to speak to them, most will roll their eyes or shake their heads—some possibly using rude gestures to get their point across. They seem like they’re waiting for something, and their stubborn silence might be a problem for some of the more impatient Chosen. Characters who are nice to them might get some sass, or some eye rolling. Characters who are more impatient and try to yell, fight, or harm the fairies might find themselves… afflicted. They might not be able to hear for a while, they might not be able to see—maybe they’ll be floating in the air as if in a bubble, not able to move one way or another besides squirming and yelling at the cranky fairies. It could be a lesser affliction, too—maybe your allergies suddenly act up, or you have a massive cramp in your legs so that you can’t go anywhere. These effects don’t last long, though, only about ten or fifteen minutes. Their purpose isn’t to harm anyone, they’re just trying to tell the ruder Chosen to kindly fuck off. Other lesser status effects might happen—but the intention is never to harm, just to distract.

”Good grief, how did I end up with this job today…”

A larger fairy comes flying up, and the others surrounding him roll their eyes in even more exasperation than anything the Chosen would’ve gotten out of them. He sighs in an exaggerated way, before putting on what seems to be a fairy’s sort of version of a Customer Service Smile. When he speaks, he’s smiling but he sounds bored out of his mind:

”Today, we’re taking volunteers to a blighted area that needs to be recovered. You may keep whatever you find there… probably. And before you ask, we can’t do it ourselves. So, if everyone’s ready–”

The fairies behind him make a motion, almost like they’re unzipping a zipper. With a sound of tear, a hole appears in the air behind him, almost as if the scenery itself has been torn. A couple more fairies pull and stretch the tear until it’s big enough for the Chosen to walk through. If the Chosen to look through the tear, they can see that there’s a desert on the other side of it. It looks to be some kind of ruins, actually—but don’t wait too long.

”Please! We don’t have a all day.”
Mr. Expedition isn’t too happy with hesitation.

**NPC will be available for interaction at this point!

JOURNEY TO THE DESERT

When the Chosen step through, they find themselves in the middle of some desert ruins. There’s not much on the horizon to see other than sand, and an oasis that looks like it’s off in the distance. If characters try to exit the city and go further out, they’re stopped and find themselves teleported back somehow. The fairies give a little chuckle when it happens, so maybe it was them? They can’t go further into the desert than where they’re at right now. There are stone buildings, but there are also metal remains of structures scattered around the area—just about the size of Aldrip. There’s remnants of businesses, restaurants and houses. Some are standing, and some are only remembered by a single dining room table sitting in the middle of the sand.

"Well ? What are you waiting for? Go on, do your… thing. Be tourists! Snoop! Investigate! Engage! Or… whatever it is you do. But I’d be ready when it turns dark. Oh! You might come across people – wait, I meant beings that don’t seem quite right. They are harmless enough in the daylight, but at night? Well, I’d be careful, if I were you."
**NPC will be available for interaction at this point!

I. THERE'S SAND IN MY SHOES

Chosen who wander the ruins may note that it looks like some of the buildings were left in a hurry. Some of them look like people just disappeared from the inside— everything remains intact, as if nothing has been moved or taken out of the building. Plates out, covered with dust and sand, as if waiting for a lunch that’ll never come, or at the bar with liquor still in smaller shot glasses. Twinkies that have been unopened and are, somehow, inexplicably,, still good—

The remnants of the interiors are covered in thick layers of dust, but when they look inside, everything is painted. Everything is treated as a mural, from the inside walls to the outside. From religious figures, partial landscapes, and even some cartoon-looking characters—there’s a little bit of everything painted. Nothing seems to be just plain, almost as if the people who had lived there had considered everything a blank canvas. There may still be buckets of paint that characters find still hanging around, dried up from disuse, but still there. Beneath piles of rubble, the Chosen can find canvases, easels and other art supplies, most in various states of disrepair from age.

Besides paper used for art work, it doesn’t look like there’s much in the way of books or newspapers.Instead, they’re able to find something that looks almost like a smartwatch: sleek, with minimal interface, but when touched, they activate a few seconds of what looks like decayed hologram log.
We have to work together! We can’t let them separate us—

The hologram disappears. The Chosen can fiddle with this device and try to restore the hologram, but it just repeats the same distorted words over and over in a loop.

Besides the watches are what look like datapads that are found around the buildings as well. Touching them will cause the screen to flash in and out, almost as if there’s something wrong with their wiring. But words on a screen can be found intermittently—

Those bastards, they left us THEY LEFT
But wait… You feel a sudden chill down your neck. Are you being watched? Was that a shadow moving from the corner of your eye? You look, but don’t see anything. No, that’s silly. Mr. Expedition is the one watching you. Of course. That’s all it was

Of course.

II. LEAVE NO STONE UNTURNED

The Chosen are a thorough bunch, aren’t they? As they continue to investigate the ruins, they’ll be able to access places like pantries, drawers, closets, and basements that are still roughly intact. Kind of. There are various things in these nooks and crannies: characters will be able to find various sundries like money, or sheer metal, or old dilapidated clothing. Jewelry boxes may still have earrings or necklaces, tool boxes may still have tools inside, things like that. A lot of it is personal, tucked away in storage, waiting for owners who have seemingly not returned. Some of it is useless junk: broken toys, half-disintegrated candy wrappers, and the like.

”You might want to keep those items for later.”

Mr. Expedition says this over the Chosen’s shoulder, but when they turn around, he’s gone again.

What he doesn’t warn for… are the traps. There’s tripwire, and devices on the doors to ensure that they’re not messed with. What kind of traps?

Well, they’re mostly harmless.

Most of the traps are just pranks: trap doors springing open beneath a character's feet, a loud burst of firecrackers upon opening a drawer, pie-in-the-face pranks with pie shells that have long since dried up. There is an endless variety, and nothing causes more than light bruising or startling. What will the Chosen pick up? What traps will they end up springing? Well, that's up to you.

THOSE WHO COME AT NIGHT

As Mr. Expedition mentioned earlier, there are some… people hanging around. Or are they people at all? Sometimes it can be as simple as a shadow, a trick of the light...others look as if they’re merely ghosts. Whether the Chosen try to talk to them or not, they don’t say much.

Why me?
Why us?
Why why why why why

It’s nothing that really makes sense to the Chosen… so maybe it’s not that important to interact with them. Right?

As the day gets darker and it turns to night, the figures become more tangible. Their forms become clearer, now: what looks like people with strange but possibly familiar markings running along their skin. They’re probably unnerving enough, with their incoherent speech that just gets louder and louder.But they're not the only concern here: the bigger problem is that something else is becoming more tangible, too. These creatures might have been humanoid, once: they seem to have two arms, two legs, and what looks like a head…but all of them look fuzzy, almost like they're half-there, with indistinct features and black holes where their faces should be. Even if they don't have mouths…they still scream when they attack.

III. DESERT'S HAUNTED

These creatures see the fairies—and anyone who might be accompanying them—as a threat, and they react accordingly. The marked humanoids ("Oh, ew, Infected!" Mr. Expedition will hastily explain, if asked), who had barely paid attention to the visitors earlier, turn more hostile at the sound of the screams, almost as if the shadowy mutations are encouraging them to join the attack. Curiously, their markings become more prominent at the sound of the screams, as well. They all seem averse to light, which might be why Mr. Expedition has encouraged the Chosen to stay close to camp. The campfire provides refuge from all of the hostile creatures, but for those enterprising enough to try exploring at night…well, good luck.

"Ah, yep, there they are," Mr. Expedition ponders aloud, ducking behind a group of the Chosen. "Now, let's see. What was I supposed to tell you about them? Hmm…something about 'the attack'." And then, just like that, he's gone again.

How helpful.

Chosen who attack the Ghosts will find this to be a futile effort: weapons, magic, and objects lobbed at the creatures are absorbed in the black void of their bodies. Physical attacks with fists and the like are repelled: the Chosen will find themselves thrown several feet away after trying.

The Infected, as Mr. Expedition called them, do not seem to be invulnerable. The Chosen are able to attack and push them back with weapons, magic, and physical attacks, which can prove fatal to them. When they die, their bodies disappear from the field moments after they're struck down.

Both the Ghosts and the Infected are able to hurt the Chosen, tearing at them with claws. The wounds caused by these creatures seem normal enough, but are invulnerable to magical healing, and take a strangely long time to heal…

IV. KNEW THAT'D COME IN HANDY

"Aha! I got it!" Mr. Expedition cries, reappearing over the Chosen a few minutes later. "Be nice! Remember the attack! And items have power!" He bows, as if he's made the most helpful announcement in the world, and then disappears again.

So…what does that mean? And why did he wait until now to even say anything?

Chosen that are able to think quickly may remember his words from earlier about holding onto some of the personal items they found in the ruins. They might also remember how some of their ranks had been Branded before, and how selfless acts helped them overcome those struggles. The Infected may stand down when they're held back from hurting others, or given a possession that someone found earlier. If given a personal item—any personal item—from the ruins, they pause their fighting, their faces going blank for a few moments. The markings begin to face, and they collapse on the ground. they're still alive, but unconscious.

The Ghosts are more formidable. They don't have the same reaction to the personal items, but they seem to be strongly affected by acts of protection. Witnessing the Chosen exhibiting these acts of kindness is what ultimately gets a Ghost to stop in its tracks. These creatures are too far gone to revert to a humanoid form, though—if their tastes are met, they simply fade away.

THOSE WHO STAYED BEHIND

We get it, not everyone trusts fairies. Those who choose not to go on the expedition to the ruins might find things eerily quiet in Aldrip. There are a few fairies who stay behind and continue to coax the ground back to life, of course—and just as before, they encourage the Chosen to help them do so.
But if they're paying attention, the Chosen might notice that something is amiss. Parts of signs on buildings have blinked out of existence. Some of the local residents of Aldrip act as if they're lagging. Some even flicker in and out of existence…but that's fine, right? Nothing to worry about.

Right?

V. IT'S NOT A BUG, IT'S A FEATURE

For those who have stayed behind, there's plenty of work to do in Aldrip and the surrounds. Buildings still sit in disrepair after the last event—haven't the locals been working on that? no? what have they been doing all this time?—and decayed wood and underbrush need to be removed from Pessiria Forest.

Now would be a great time to begin working on building up new things, too: plenty of Chosen have been talking about building homes or dorms to ease the pressure on the Inn, and some of the locals still whisper concerns about what happens if refrigeration fails again. Do they have enough crops to feed everyone, after that giant monster withered so much of the area? Where are you going to put all that debris, anyway? And what about the paths between towns that still lie in disrepair?

Unfortunately, the Chosen are almost entirely on their own for this. The people of Aldrip seem particularly helpless in the face of change, and some even seem to freeze up at the thought of helping out…wait. Are they actually frozen? They're not blinking. Or moving. …Oh, they're fine now.

This is fine!

VI. FUCK IT, WE BALL (WILDCARD)

Just because there’s not a prompt for it doesn’t mean that your character’s actions aren’t acceptable. If you wish to do anything that hasn’t been directly addressed by the prompts, leave a message for the mod team to say what your character would do. If you choose to go down this path, note it as a comment on the OOC poll when it goes up, and leave a link to your threads so that we can take all actions into consideration for the next State of the Game.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Well, that's interesting. Mayhap technology from an age long past then? Knowledge lost to the people now.

[ Boy, that sounds familiar! ]

If anyone is to figure it out, surely it would be you. [ Or Cid if he were here, but he's not. ]

Me?

[ He turns to her with hand hovering above his breast, eyes wide as though in shock. ]

Why, with such a glowing commendation from the Warrior of Light herself, I cannot possibly disappoint.

[ He bows with a flourish. As he straightens, he pivots neatly and flings out an arm towards the rest of the deserted settlement. ]

Let us venture forth and investigate then, hmm?

[ She can't help but snort and roll her eyes in response to his theatrics. ]

Aye, let us continue the investigation.

[ She's not sure if he means with her, or not. Though she supposes if he tires of her presence he'll just teleport away. ]

[ He does indeed seem to mean with her. If she doesn't immediately follow him, he will turn around and raise an expectant eyebrow, waiting until she does before resuming his pace.

The ruins would probably be a goldmine for an anthropologist with all the clear evidence of life and culture left behind. But Emet-Selch doesn't really care for the details - he's seen many such ruins before and they only serve to drive in further the need to see the world restored to its rightful state. ]

...Bah, the dryness reminds me of Thanalan. I hope the fae don't expect us to work without water.

[ She's already moving to follow him, her tail almost moving in what could be described as a happy wag behind her. He might be from further back in the timeline than her, but this is the kind of thing she'd have liked to do with him. Poking around some ruins or exploring the land, maybe give him a chance to see the world in a different light. ]

You don't travel with a water skin? [ She always comes prepared, well mostly prepared given most of her supplies were left behind on her chocobo. But she did manage to find herself a container for water shortly after arriving. ] Ah, but I guess that would make sense for you back home.

I try to spend as little time as possible in a mortal vessel. Sometimes I forget that it needs watering and such.

[ Well, actually, he had commandeered one recently for his jaunts about the First, and it hasn't been all that long since his stint as Solus zos Galvus, so he does remember to eat and drink. But when it comes to taking extended trips, he has never had to think about supplies for the road because he would travel as an Ascian. ]

I've no food either, come to think of it. What a terribly ill-thought out venture this was.

Mmn. [ She bobs her head in a nod, having assumed as much. ]

I have water and a little bit of food if you need it. [ She's willing to share. ]

How very kind of you. I suppose a traveller is always prepared, hmm?

[ Actually, he's surprised she would share with him of all people. Even if a part of him scoffs and thinks, "Of course they would." ]

How far have your travels taken you on the Source?

I try to be.

[ He may still think of her as the enemy but she's long past that and considers him a friend. Or at the very least, someone she can get along with. ]

Since returning from the First? Let's see... Garlemald, Old Sharlayan, Thavnair, and the Thirteenth.

...The Thirteenth? What in Zodiark's name prompted you to go there?

[ He regards her with genuine surprise, slowing his pace to stare at her. ]

Ah, kind of an accident that led to what was meant to be a rescue mission.

[ Funny how things work out. ]

As you're no doubt aware, the Satrap of Radz-at-Han is a dragon by the name of Vrtra. His sister has been lost in the Void ever since the age of Allag. We offered to find her after coming across a planar fissure he had created some time ago in order to travel to the Thirteenth.

[ Oh yes, something like that had happened during Allag's time, hadn't it? He hadn't given it much thought considering the Thirteenth was a lost cause. Perhaps it will be worth checking in on if he can return.

For now, he crosses his arms and lapses into thought. It's one thing to cross a single barrier and return to the Source, another to make the effort to travel further afield. Although perhaps it isn't quite so out of the question: after all, voidsent filter through to the Source quite easily.

Hmm. How can he use this information to further his own plans...? ]

The one in his little treasure vault, you mean? Hah. So that's what it was for.

[ While he and the Ascians might see the Thirteenth as a lost cause, there is the possibility it's not. It might be a lot of work to reverse the damage done but if they could do it to the Empty on the First, then perhaps there was a way.

She's nothing of what he could possibly do with any information he gets out of her. ]

Aye, though the portal was only big enough for a child to fit through when we found it.

And so you widened it and passed through, mind, body, and soul, without being ravaged by the tempestuous aether therein?

[ Obviously they devised some form of protection, but how? ]

Aye. It took a little experimentation, but we found a way.

[ Granted, they'd already found a way to prevent tempering so they only needed to expand upon that for protection from the Void. ]

I don't suppose you would like to share what that method was.

[ It surely can't be easy to protect such thin aether as theirs. ]

Do you want the whole story as to how we came to the answer or the short answer?

[ Either way, it'll end with her explaining the dragon scales are tough stuff and can resist such corruption. Though, they are not quite strong enough to hold off the Void for extended periods of time. ]

Oh... Fine, give me the whole story then. I imagine we'll be here for a while.

[ As he says that, he pokes at a half-open door and cautiously tries to stick his head through. A weak puff of air sends some half-hearted confetti flying towards his face but it does little more than disturb his fringe. ]

[ Yuja begins to open her mouth to respond when he triggers the trap. It might not be much but Yuja can't help the soft snort that escapes her as she tries to cover up a little laugh.

She clears her throat and begins explaining. ]

After determining that the Void and Light corruption is similar to being tempered we had to find a way to shield people against it. Those of us with Hydaelyn's blessing are already shielded, but we can't extend that to others for a long period of time.

[ She pauses, thinking about how to continue. She's not sure she tell him about Fandaniel and his towers just yet. Maybe she can just skip over all of that. ]

As it turned out the alchemist of Radz-at-Han were looking into ways to counteract tempering through the use of dragon scales since dragons have a higher resistance to tempering. It took some time to find the right combination of scale and, um, other stuff.

[ She waves a hand in the air, she's not as well versed in what alchemists do so she's not sure how to describe their experiments. ]

In the end, we had an amulet that could shield someone from such corruption, but it could only shield from something like the Thirteenth for a short period of time. We discovered this when Y'shtola sent a couple of familiars through the portal into the Void. So we needed something stronger.

After talking with Cid, his Ironworks took over from there and found a way to improve upon the amulet, allowing us to traverse the void with little worry.

Hmph. So that's what you used in the end. I suppose Amon was right to shut down research into the topic when he did. I shudder to think of how much more powerful Allag could have grown with such knowledge.

[ With so many draconic subjects there is little doubt in his mind that they would have found a solution to all the problems he and the other Ascians needed to manufacture. It was good to keep man and dragon in strife. ]

They may have found another way but since they had direct access to a dragon it made the most sense. [ Yuja can't say one way or another if it was a good thing. It may have prevented Allag from wiping out the dragons, but such information was invaluable. ]

Anything of interest in the house? [ She hasn't seen anything that catches her interest, but he might have a better eye for such things. ]

[ He pushes further into the home and gestures with a slightly theatrical wave of the hand, inviting her to enter as well. ]

Nothing that I can see. But perhaps you will find something interesting in the mundane lives of the long dead.

[ From what he can see, the occupants were interrupted in the middle of a meal. The meal itself has long grown...unappetising, to say the least. ]

[ At first glance, there isn't anything of interest that she can see. She slips in behind him and begins to poke around, careful of any more potential traps. ]

There's some art but it doesn't seem there is much else to find.

[ Again, nothing that gives any answers as to what happened. ]

Hmm. A pity.

[ He runs a finger along the edge of the table and frowns at the dust collected there. ]

Wouldn't it be quite a twist of fate if those who once lived here were swapped for us?

[ He doesn't think it likely given the timeframe but it does make him wonder whether the modus operandi is similar. ]

[ She hadn't thought about that being a possibility, though looking around it doesn't seem that would be the case. Unless they were also displaced in time. ]

A strange notion.

[ A little more poking around before she makes her way for the door once more. ]

Shall we check the next building?

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