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expiationlogs2024-01-14 12:09 pm
{event #6} adversity 5648654.484
| 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. The various prompts are, of course, optional. EDIT: there is a coordinated group made by William that had sign-ups here! Of course, you may fight the monster still without being in the group, but characters may notice this pretty large group fighting the Big Bad. William's top level is here! |
The corruption affecting land and characters has not gone away on its own; indeed, in some people and places, it may be getting worse. The Chosen can try to fight it if they’re taken by these effects, but it won’t go away on its own. Luckily, some characters are trying to find a source and solve these problems…
EASTWARD
Around January 15, characters who are investigating the corruption will be able to follow a trail of rot and destruction that leads out of town to the east before winding to the south. They’ll pass Rumpitur and Pessiria Forest on the way. Following this trail is not without danger: the monsters affected around town continue to be aggressive, attacking characters and, unfortunately, spreading more of this affliction through bites and scratches.
Characters who make this journey will be on the road for at least a day, maybe longer. They may need to set up camp along the way, but with Rumpitur still closed off, they’ll be exposed to the elements as well as to dangerous monsters. Might want to take this one in shifts…
Eventually, this trail of destruction leads to the coast just outside of Rumpitur, and as soon as characters are close enough, the same octopus-like monsters that first started appearing near the end of November begin to emerge from the sea. Getting an up-close look at them, they will find that these monsters are afflicted by the same rot that seems to be plaguing Aldrip. Just like with the Chosen and other surfaces exposed to this rot, if the monsters make contact with the glowing stones, the affliction recedes. However, their aggression–seemingly targeted at the Chosen–remains. They’ll surge forward as if on a mission, not just to attack the Chosen, but also to get past them, up the road and out of sight. Wonder why that is…?
They’ll have little time to think on that. The ground beneath their feet begins to quake, causing surging waves and crumbling rocks. The huge creature that plagued characters at the Ruins of Forlinet rises from the ocean just near the shore, streaked with the same black marks and still controlling the smaller monsters. It wastes no time in attacking, trying to grab onto anything or anyone it can reach with its deadly tentacles.
At this time, the Aldrip locals who were guarding Rumpitur and putting the town on house arrest come to join the fight. A little while later, shockingly, the Rumpiturians also join the fray. They’ll take up whatever arms they have, as well as extra materials containing the glowing stones, and help hold off the smaller creatures. Some brave souls even turn their attack on the large creature. Perhaps they feel that they owe Aldrip and the Chosen a debt. Perhaps they feel grateful that there was no violent retribution for their crimes. It’s hard to say…
Just like with the smaller monsters, the corruption recedes when it makes contact with anything created from, or infused with, the stones. Curiously, however, when the large monster is affected by the stones, the smaller ones seem to stop attacking, just for a few moments…and the more the larger monster is affected, the longer the smaller creatures seem to react. Eventually, some of them might even crawl back into the ocean, retreating entirely.
Eventually, maybe the larger monster will even slow its attacks. Does it seem as if it’s becoming less aggressive over time? Interesting…
COLLATERAL DAMAGES
Aldrip’s local blacksmiths, weapons masters, and artisans have come together to create useful tools containing the mysterious glowing stones gathered from the caves. Chosen will be able to find, among other things, arrows, jewelry, hand grenades, spears, knives, shovels, nets, and other various useful items that have been either created entirely from these stones, or have the stones fused into them in some way. Some Chosen have been coming up with interesting ways to use them, as well.
All of these methods serve to help keep the rot at bay, even pushing it back when enough are in use. In an uncharacteristic display of generosity, characters are encouraged, even asked, to take and use these things both outside of town and in Aldrip itself, to hopefully fix some of the damage caused by this affliction.
It may seem obvious, at this point, but Aldrip has no shortage of troubles during this time. There are two very critical problems, as locals see it: one, shortages of fresh food due to compromised crops, and two, structural damage, caused by the rot making its way into building foundations. Two buildings seem to fare better than the others: the inn and city hall. There’s no reason given as to why this is so…which is strange, isn’t it? But–no, it’s probably fine. Yeah.
Any Chosen who stay in town are asked to collect more glowing rocks and shore up damaged foundations, lest they begin to crumble. No one wants to lose their home, and the buildings made for the influx of Chosen are not immune to this! As time wears on and the corruption progresses, building collapses become more and more common. For buildings that are too far gone, characters may find themselves leading an evacuation effort to get people out before they’re seriously injured. Many locals will be reluctant to leave buildings unless they prove to be entirely structurally unsound, but…you wouldn’t really just leave them there to find out the hard way? (Right? Guys? …on second thought, maybe don’t answer that)
Crops far outside of town in the fields may still be viable, but it’s hard to say without close investigation–which is encouraged. Those who venture far enough outside of town may find any number of fall or winter vegetables, though they’re a little smaller and less robust than one might like. It’s not exactly a bountiful harvest, but it’s better than nothing.
After the monster attack begins, Aldrip finds itself with a whole new set of problems. The earthquake made by the sea monster creates aftershocks that hit Aldrip hard, in some places, causing more buildings to go down. More distressingly, after a few hours, more of the octopus creatures begin to show up in the distance outside of town. Chosen are quickly employed to create barriers, both physical and magical, as well as evacuate any locals to a safe place, most likely the inn. Some brave fighters may even be asked to charge out into the fields and fight the monsters before they’re able to get to town.
This siege will last for a few hours, and is much less of a swarm than the characters who went to the coast are experiencing. After a while, suspiciously, the monsters just stop. They turn westward, toward the nearest entry point to the ocean, and make their way toward the water.
(Assuming they don’t all get slaughtered first, of course.)
ACTION AND REACTION
The immediate aftermath of the battle is fairly standard: tending wounds, cleaning up wanton destruction… Oh, and the Aldrip locals return to their posts, putting Rumpitur under house arrest once more. In spite of their (completely understandable) distrust and current dislike of the Rumpiturians, those locals are quite grateful that they lent a hand. Maybe the Chosen are, too. Whatever their feelings, however, Rumpitur remains off-limits, for now. Trust is easy to break, and slow to rebuild.
Whether the monster is killed or not, it seems that the glowing stones used in the attack were enough to make the rot affecting it recede completely. As our adventurers make their way back to Aldrip, they will notice that the trail of corruption they followed on the way there has faded significantly, and the closer to Aldrip they get, the more it seems to have receded. Nature is healing! The crops and buildings that corroded due to its influence are still a loss, of course, but maybe it won’t plague the town anymore, at least. (For now? For good? That remains to be seen.)
vii. NEXT STEPS
Back in town, there is lots to do now that things have calmed down. Distressingly, even though the rot affecting the land has receded, Chosen and locals who have been affected have not been cured. Luckily, Ethlyn has been working on a solution of her own, and by the time things are quiet enough to heal the injured, it will be perfected enough to be called a cure. It’s not tasty, having a sort of gritty, chalky taste and texture, a little like eating liquified chalk dust. Gross. But it works, for the most part.
Additionally, locals who have seen the Chosen’s powers in action may ask some healers to see if they can find a way to use some of the stones to infuse the effects into their healing abilities. This could be fun to experiment with, right? We see no way it could possibly go wrong. Have fun!
During the next few weeks, clean-up and rebuilding will be a central focus in Aldrip. Extra food harvests and animal/monster hunts are encouraged, to ensure that there are no serious food shortages. Healers might have their work cut out for them, not just with the corruption but with normal wounds as well. New buildings will start going up quickly, but it’ll still take a few weeks for them to be ready. Until then, maybe get cozy–any Chosen who have lost their homes may need to find a new place to stay, at least temporarily.
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.
v.
But be that as it may, he is just going to be Later, apparently, because he sees a man shuffling backward hurriedly, brandishing a knife in hand and clearly out of his depth. Kotetsu briefly considers his possible options, but with someone in danger right in front of him, he can't be thinking about whether he might need his powers again in the next hour. So as the creatures are advancing on him, slowly backing him into a corner, Silco might catch a bright blue flash out of the corner of his eye before he is suddenly Scooped and before he knows it, he's set down on higher ground, away from the creatures, and a middle aged man is in front of him, the blue glow flickering out.]
You okay? Hurt anywhere?
no subject
Which seemed to be his luck today! Of course, he made an unceremonious noise as he was suddenly scooped up from his backing away and rather defensive position. It wasn't a first, but it had been a very long time to be manhandled in such a way. He stared at the glowing blue man in surprise, knife still held in one hand.]
No, I'm not injured. Why are you glowing?
sorry for the delay! it's been a weird month
Oh, it's my powers! I glow when I activate them.
[Another moment, and he realizes he's still holding onto the man, and gingerly sets him down, rubbing at his neck sheepishly.]
Heh, I keep forgetting people are from super different places around here. Everyone knows about us NEXTs where I'm from.
no subject
And... what does this power mean?
[He was pleased to have his feet back on the ground, and he made a point of dusting himself off and tugging down his sleeves. He looked the other man up and down, noting they were closer in age than most that he had seen in town.]
What does 'next' stand for?
no subject
[Hence how he could swoop in and grab Silco in the blink of an eye like that.]
NEXT is short for "Noted Entities with eXtraordinary Talents". Kind of a mouthful, huh? Haha.
no subject
[He was curious of the recharge of such an ability, but he supposed he should be grateful that he had been carried away from danger in the first place. After all, he might have died and only one person would consider that a tragedy.]
I appreciate your assistance and using your... 'next' power to do so. Normally, my daughter assists me with such events, but I hadn't realize the city borders would be so overwhelmed.
no subject
[Kotetsu's had to become more strategic with his power use ever since his time limit started declining, but the thing is, he's never going to leave someone in danger simply because he might have more need for his powers later, and there were enough of the creatures he wasn't entirely comfortable just jumping in to fight all of them on his own; he couldn't guarantee the man's safety like that.
He shakes his head, brightening a little at the mention of the man's daughter.]
You're here with your kid? That's--I mean, it's not great you're both kidnapped, obviously, but I'm glad you're together, at least. There's so many kids around here on their own, it sucks.
no subject
[Where he was from, there were definitely more people that would want to off him than save him, so this remained a different change of pace. Of course, since coming here, there did seem to be an abnormal amount of heroics in this place where there didn't seem to be quite as many strings attached.
He raised his eyebrow when the man's demeanor became more excitable at the mention of Jinx.]
This place is more bearable together, though I arrived here after she had been here. Well, many of the children do seem oddly independent. Do you have a child of your own then?
no subject
That's a little much, isn't it? I mean, we're all in this mess together. The least we can do is help each other out.
[Yeah he's one of Those, sorry not sorry Silco.]
Anyway, independent or not, it still feels shitty to see. I mean, you get it, right? When you think about what your kid went through being dumped here and dealing with all this by herself. Freaks me out whenever I picture my kid in that same boat, so...
[He shakes his head. It's a depressing line of conversation, and this guy's probably still coming down from the danger he was just in personally. He can stew in this more when the danger around town has settled.]
I'm Kotetsu, by the way.
[Offering out a hand to shake!!]
no subject
You understand that you can't save everyone? People need to be able to save themselves or they become complacent.
[He'd met people like this before, and they were quick to die as they were constantly throwing themselves into the jaws of danger. One couldn't be useful to themselves or their cause if they were dead; the tea party had taught him that.]
How old is your daughter? Mine is an adult in the eyes of society, and I know she will have to survive well in whatever world she ends up with or without me. She's a survivor, so I know she will do well even if she doesn't always think so.
[He was proud of Jinx, and while he might not always compliment, he actually felt he could in front of another parent. After all, this one didn't know - yet - the kind of deranged troll Silco had raised, but because of that, he was free to speak of his daughter as he pleased without expecting disparaging remarks. It was a... strange situation to be in.]
Silco. [He did take the hand shake opportunity, his way of 'thanks' for rescuing him from likely certain death.] Your skills will come in handy in this place. There seems to be danger of some kind at all times.
no subject
You understand there's a pretty big gap between "everyone" and "nobody", right? Not helping someone who's right in front of you so they won't be "complacent" is bullshit.
[He is not Hip with The Youths, but the tone is very much who hurt you, topped with a scoff. And here he'd felt like he'd run into someone who'd understand how he felt, as a fellow father. It's disappointing.]
Sheesh, are you always this dramatic? I'm not doubting anyone's survival, that's not the point. They shouldn't have to be surviving and dealing with all this on their own. Like you said, it's more bearable together.
no subject
I'm very aware. You save who you can, but that doesn't mean saving everyone. That's not possible, and it's a good way to drive yourself mad.
[Silco was not always interested in saving those who had expended their usefulness either. These were the hard choices that he made, and in his world, that was common practice. Perhaps his opinion on the matter if Zaun was free, but everything was acceptable and the depraved were welcome where he was from. There would always be someone bigger, and the politics and heroics of the Undercity were rather muddy waters indeed.]
You must come from a world where survival isn't a day-to-day goal then. I don't have that luxury and neither did my people.
no subject
Gee, thanks for your concern.
[Bitingly sarcastic.]
If you really think because things were bad where you came from that nobody should try to make things better so people don't have to live like that, then I don't know what to tell you, honestly.
[He lets out a sigh that's perhaps a little harsher than it needs to be, the enthusiasm of earlier entirely dimmed out by now.]
Anyway, there a safe place I can take you? Got a lot more driving myself mad to do, what with everything going on, so I'd like to wrap this up quick.
[As obviously offended as he is, he's not just going to abandon this guy to his fate if more monsters come for him now. He's a god damn professional, alright.]
no subject
We do make things better where we can, and we'll have our independence soon enough. But the boot on our throats takes people every single day, and we cannot save them all. There's too many, so we gather who we can.
[He shrugged his shoulders at the question of a safe place. He supposed town was safe enough unless it became overrun, but he had other options if that would become the case.]
Go then. I can find my own way.
[With that, he turned away with full intention to walk away. Yeah, it was time to get back to town from the farm lands, but he was fine on his own this far in. He had no reason to stay.]
Good luck with your adventures.
no subject
You realize that's literally what I said when you bit my head off for suggesting we should maybe give a shit about each other, right? That there's a big gap between "everybody" and "nobody"?
[Whatever!!! Whatever. Standing here arguing possibly over nothing is a waste of time. But he's not about to just leave him here.]
Find your own way like you did when you were cornered by those things a minute ago? I don't think so. At least let me walk you back.
no subject
So take the middle ground as you choose.
[He was walking away, reaching into his inner coat pocket to remove his metal cigar case so he could pull one out and slip it between his lips. He paused at the verbal barb, making a point to lean over to cover the cigar as he lit it up. He stood and tucked a hand into his coat pocket, eyeing the other man.]
Oh but you saved me, so I'm certain I can find my way without much trouble unless the flank is lost.