32 - Blow Your Top

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone!
What: A volcano eruption threatens the Western District
When: Jan 14 - 16
Where: The Western District of the Heavens
Summary: The Western District volcano is erupting again, endangering nearby temples and sending ash sprinkling down across the Heavens. Is it natural, or another attack? Those who dare climb the volcano can find out.






Earthquake Warning

On the morning of the 14th, an earthquake rattles windows throughout the Heavens. It's not strong enough to knock down buildings -- unless they're about to fall down anyway, like some of the older abandoned temples -- but it's strong enough to knock things off shelves and startle any late sleepers out of bed.

After the earthquake, strange sights abound around the Heavens. The poetic koi are swimming in organized schools in all of the canals, heading upstream towards the east. Springs of pure water burst out in some areas, and in others, normal springs or fountains have gone temporarily dry. Blue and green lights bob and weave across the landscape.

Falling Rock

The volcano begins erupting with a roar and a bright scarlet glow on the horizon. Ash and bits of rock fall across the Western district, and may even reach into the Southwest, Northwest and southern Central districts. Volcanic glass fibers that look like golden hair collect on trees, fences and buildings.

Trails and fountains of lava are also erupting from freshly opened fissures and wending down the sides of the volcano. Gods and shinki who live in the Western District are going to need some help clearing ash and glass from their roofs, trying to re-route lava flows (the good news is, if you cool one side down enough, you can turn them! the bad news is, that takes a lot of work) or just offering them a spare room to stay until things calm down.

Swamp Gas

It's not just lava and springwater erupting from mysterious new crevasses -- and it's not just mundane volcanic gases, either. Divine volcanic vents are blowing mind-altering fumes all over the Heavens. Anywhere across the Far Shore, but especially as characters get closer to the volcano, they may experience one or more of the following effects:

• Confusion
• Intense emotions
• Anger and irritability
• Impulsive behavior, loss of emotional control
• Hallucinations
• Unusually clear insight into other people and situations
• Coughing, eye and throat irritation, difficulty breathing
• Irresistible impulses to speak in poetry

Most symptoms will clear up after a few hours in fresh air, and all of them will be gone within 48 hours of the last volcano gas exposure.

Mountain Climbing

Natural disasters don't just happen like this in the Heavens... do they? Amaterasu's white-robed shinki are convinced that something is wrong, and they're organizing into search parties to go up the mountain and seek out the cause of this eruption. New and old gods and shinki are welcome to join them, or form their own groups. All of the hazards -- tremors, lava, ash, and volcanic gas -- will get worse as characters ascend the volcano. Strange little spirit flames, in shades of red and blue, dance on the rocks, dazzling, confusing and threatening to singe interlopers.

And there's someone up here, too. A mysterious figure with glowing red eyes is keeping watch on the intruders and vanishing behind boulders whenever someone turns his way. He won't let anyone traveling with one of the white-robed shinki get too close, but solitary gods or shinki might manage to lure him into conversation, if they try....

OOC: Please comment to the 'NPC REQUEST' thread below in order to talk to the mysterious figure on the volcano.

Those climbing the volcano will have a chance to battle the mysterious figure should their characters choose to do so. If you're interested in a fight, please comment to the 'NPC FIGHT' thread below before the top-level is posted. A top-level for the fight will go up on IC Jan 16/OOC Sept 4.

In Summary:

• Don't get rattled
• Help out the Western District with their volcano problem
• Watch out for volcanic gases
• Find out who's behind the eruption
• Have fun~

Comments

[priforprince]

Ghk!

[ Hibiki starts. She's sweating bullets.

In her surprise, her illusion powers activate, and Goku will hear snatches of.... something. ]

...go gogh have a ballticelli, da Vinci!

[priforprince]

The Far Shore's system itself is in revolt. [ Hibiki looks rather judgy about this news, honestly. More judgy than anything else, come to think of it. ]

What a useless administrative team.

[ judgy judgy in her bare feet and miles of leg ]

[priforprince]

Was that your goal?

[ Hibiki fully dismounts, still holding onto her handlebars. This type of bike doesn't have a kickstand.

Surely not having her hands free won't be an issue. ]

A

[reformedsinner]

Did you know that hot updrafts can intensify tornadoes?

[Hakkai's tone is extremely cheerful; he pauses next to Judar, looking up the burning hillside.]

It could be interesting to test that in practice.

[priforprince]

I have an allergy to absurdly artificial suffixes.

[ Symptoms include headaches, stomachaches, cold sweats, and unconsciousness. ]

[nopixiedust]

On the bright side, being indoors away from all the ash and smoke clogging the air really is better for Wendy. At least now her eyes and lungs have a chance to recover without being bombarded every second.

However... They're still affected now. Wendy doesn't bother to get up, instead sinking to the floor as she still fruitlessly rubs at her eyes. Ash has gathered along her cheeks, and, with her constant movements and tears, it only gets smeared around worse.

"Ugh... I hate all this stuff! It's everywhere!"

[artificialrose]

[what]

...I don't believe your allergy has anything to do with lava...

[kuroi_taiyo]

[ That question has him honestly thinking on whether he actually knew that. Perhaps in a sense, for the way his mind was processing heat and wind. ]

In a sense, I might've. I've got a good idea of how elements interact with one another, but my examples are most easily thought up in terms of magic.

[ But yes, he'll definitely go ahead and make a tornado in a moment. You've got him thinking about geothermal physics in a less scientific way. ]

[kuroi_taiyo]

If he falls over, it's fine. The dead just come back to life again, right?

[ He... Might've heard about that through the grapevine.

Ah, but with the consistent climb, mr 'wears high quality clothes when fighting a volcano' is noticing something else that's odd. ]

Hey, someone or something's up there.

[kuroi_taiyo]

I could aim it, or set it to focus on a specific target to chase after for as long as I'd like.

[ So yes, he has a lot of control over the tornado. Also, Caster, you have someone that formed literal people-sized spears of ice into the tornado that is causing all this mess. Not that Judar's really giving the god a chance to see all those nuances, or letting on just how many other things he could do if fire fighting was the goal here.

Still, the tornado keeps that roar, growing as it heads towards the abandoned temple- easily catching the fire and everything else flimsy enough to get sucked in. ]

[kuroi_taiyo]

What do you mean what things? It's...

[ But it's gone, without any signs of the ice having struck against anything. Even the ice that shattered off the line had dissipated. ]

It was some huge creature. How do you miss it?

[priforprince]

[ ...red, boiling magma atop a casablanca!

Hibiki begins working her way back up the mountain, so "continue to climb" does seem to be the idea. ] This eruption was likely incited. Someone must be controlling it somewhere....

[ And she intends to find that someone, in that somewhere. ]

[priforprince]

Pay it no mind.

[ If you don't instinctively understand that being sentence-ender-proof is the ultimate testimony to a shield's efficacy, you don't deserve to hear the explanation, either.

This cluster of goats over here, meanwhile, is trying to budge a Very Large Rock and are having a hard time of it. ]

[reformedsinner]

Do you drink blood?

[Destroying ayakashi for energy is a fairly effective power, Hakkai reflects, but he's certain Joscelin had said something about tasting his blood.

It could have been bravado, of course. It also could have been a hallucination. Regardless, he's not against a small donation to help the boy, assuming that it's small.

For practicality's sake, he tacks on another question.]

How much, generally? -- Ah, and I should manage. Jeep can almost drive himself.

[kokuyoyo]

Liar.

Chikusa's voice comes through the connection between him and Hakkai in a kind of lazy drawl, not convinced at all. People are a mystery to him, in most cases... But he can tell the signs of an antsy and bad liar from a mile away.

[reformedsinner]

[Hakkai keeps eye contact as the other man takes a dangerous step forward. He's close enough to see clearly now, close enough that Hakkai is confident again in his ability to handle it if Fushimi turns out to have more knives on hand.

(And it's a foolish knife thrower who would throw every weapon in the first attack.)]

No. I'm gathering branches to get my car unstuck from a mudslide.

[He'd dropped them when the knives came flying his way; he bends, deliberately, to regather the armful of wood at his feet.]

[artificialrose]

[???????]

What kind of answer is that... [Ah, but the sound of rocking rubble distracts him, and he looks around for the source if only to make sure he doesn't end up getting squished or something. As it turns out, there's no need to worry on that front.]

[Jut all the other fronts.]

Ignoring the barrier, are you sure your.... goats will be alright?

[reformedsinner]

[It's been weeks and Gojyo's broken arm still needs healing? Hakkai has to bite back the reflex to scold him. Hasn't he been taking care of it at all? Has he even put anything on it but that little temporary splint?

What stops him is the cold knowledge that he doesn't have the right. He closes his eyes again, shutting out the fading phantoms in favor of his own, familiar set.]

Of course.

[From the silent treatment to banter. He wonders just how much blood Gojyo's losing. Just in case, he offers:]

My head is much clearer.

[reformedsinner]

They're not strictly tornadoes, but hot baked earth and forest fires can whip up whirlwinds spontaneously.

[Hakkai is here for facts about meteorological phenomena while on a volcano that's mid-eruption. It's definitely a useful contribution to Judar's efforts and not just egging him on to do something that might turn out awesome.]

[nopixiedust]

"Stupid-" A hack of a cough. "Really stupid-!" She can't read minds and she can't see. As far as Wendy is concerned, anything could happen right now. They could even get attacked by ayakashi, and she wouldn't really be surprised.

But there's no point in her talking anymore. Not when she's like this, and talking is starting to hurt.

[kuroi_taiyo]

[ Just make sure that any flying companions are strapped down, secured, and made considerably denser. The cyclone that starts to form out in the distance already has the shape of dragons in the outer edges of the developing cone before it's even halfway near touching down.

While he's knocking it to his 'genius,' it's far more likely that Judar's more experienced with this particular spell, or application of abilities, than he'd even know. ]

Think it'd be a different effect against magic, or the fact that there's a bunch of ice in there?

[chibisu]

Ah... Probably not.

[Those are pretty big sunglasses, after all. If they were smaller, Ebisu might give it some though... But even smaller, it probably would be too cumbersome. Sunglasses stand out, with their frames, and they would press in uncomfortably with the pressure of a gas mask.]

Do you have sight problems?

[artificialrose]

I think the glass, at least, can be mostly broken off without any trouble... There was a good amount of it gathering onto the bridge leading to Nagito's temple once we stopped worrying over our own temple.

Still, I can understand your concern. [Brows drawn tightly together, he glances back at the volcano.] Do you think any other gods or shinki will be able to stop some of it from reaching any of our homes?

[chibisu]

If there's one good thing with Ebisu constantly being accompanied, it's that his shinki are there to help with any of the stranger details... like helping a child put on a gas mask. Aomi is the one to notice and, breaking off his conversation with his coworker, kneels down and smiles politely. "Allow me to help," he says, before reaching over to make sure it's tied on properly.

Ebisu allows his shinki to handle that, even as he continues to talk. "Yeah, those are said to sometimes occur, right before a volcano erupts, and then they can continue to happen while lava is pouring down. But, Romeo- is your temple alright?" A tinge of concern edges into his voice. "Do you and your god need a place to stay?"

[veiledflame]

"Not really." This shrug is theatrically unconcerned; Sotero waves back down the mountain.

"So, which way is she, anyway?"