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

[mithrarin]

Mountain Climbing

[Dust doesn't quite remember his history with volcanoes. And perhaps more importantly, he's no vulcanologist anyway. He thinks he understands the hazards -- the shivering ground, the lava flows, the noxious gases. What he is about to learn is that another one exists: lava tubes.]

[In one spot that looks safe, free of debris and rubble and hazards, Dust breaks into a sprint to clear this little island of flat, harmless safety and gain some time. No sooner does he reach the center than his descending foot shatter the thin layer of stone beneath it, whirling cracks all around in a spiderweb pattern that collapses, faster than thought, into an incandescent stream of magma far below.]

[Right as he begins to plummet, Dust leaps, an improbable fling forward that has no support beneath it, grace of being the Sen-Mithrarin. His outstretched hand snags a rough outcropping on the side of the lava tube, and his body slams into the side from the momentum, jolting him but not dislodging him.]

[Teeth gritted, Dust hangs above the river of lava oozing sluggishly below, the heat making his cloak ripple in the rising air. Great. Now what?]

Swamp Gas

[As noxious gas spews through the air, Dust ducks behind his cloak, motioning for his companion to cover their mouth in turn. With his free hand, Dust whirls his katana out of its sheath and up into the air, where it blurs into a whirling vortex centered on his palm. The sheer power of the Dust Storm sucks the gas through the blade's circle and blasts it out the other side behind the two of them, and satisfied, Dust lets his cloak fall.]

This volcano is no delight.
And at the end, will we find a fight?

[Rather than close on the last word, Dust's jaw slowly drops further. What the hell was that?!]

Mountain Climbing

[declamando]

[The sound of something thudding against a stone wall is difficult to miss, and Maria, having just gone around a curve in the rock that hid the area behind her from sight, hesitates before doubling back. It's better to be safe than sorry in this kind of situation, especially when someone else's life might be at risk.

It's hard to tell whether there's someone in the tube without actually looking over the side of it, though, and Maria's not sure that's such a good idea. So instead, she crouches near the side and calls out, her voice very slightly muffled by the damp cloth over her mouth and nose.]

Is someone there?

[mithrarin]

[After a moment, Dust's voice drifts back up.]

...Hi, Maria.

[One of the benefits of being him is his hearing, which lets him pick up on her voice despite the dampening effects of her cloth.]

Well, this is embarrassing.

[declamando]

[Ah, it's him. With a slight hum of concern, Maria searches around her person for the rope she'd brought along with her. She didn't prepare too much, but she also didn't come up completely without equipment.]

It's a risky environment, it could have happened to anyone. Hold on a moment, I've got a rope here I can lower down.

[She's just tying a few knots in the end so he doesn't end up slipping off or something along those lines.]

[mithrarin]

I feel like I'm losing the air of quiet confidence and competence I've been trying to develop.

[Especially around her. But for the moment, Dust isn't worried; his grip is iron, and he can hang here for a surprisingly long time if need be.]

[declamando]

It's better to be honest with yourself anyway. [Maria says that as she finishes tying a last knot or two, and then carefully hangs the rope over the side of the cavern, lowering it bit by bit. The end now has several large knots in it, which aside from helping to weight it a tiny bit more, means it'll be easier to get a good hold on it.]

Tell me when you've got it.

[mithrarin]

[Dust reaches out to catch the rope, locking his hand tight around it. Okay, good. He has a lot of options now that he can free up a hand...] I've got it.

[declamando]

Alright. I'll start bringing it up. [Maria doesn't want to leave him down there too long, but on the other, she doesn't want to pull up the rope suddenly in case it unsettles his hold. So she picks up a steady hand-over-hand motion, seemingly having very little trouble pulling him up towards the edge of the gap.]

[mithrarin]

[Dust is by no means 'heavy', though he's heavier than all appearances would indicate -- wiry muscles have that effect, after all. Still, it ought to be no challenge for Maria, and Dust abides by her progression till he starts to reach the edge.]

Okay, I can jump up from here.

[The warning will keep her from going sprawling when his weight leaves the rope, with any luck.]

[declamando]

[It certainly isn't an issue for Maria, and she keeps pulling until he mentions he can get up from where he is. Bracing herself for the weight to disappear, she nods slightly.]

Alright, whenever you're ready. [She'll keep the rope still while he gets himself up that last little bit, to make sure it doesn't throw him off.]

[mithrarin]

Here I go!

[Dust kicks off the cliff as he hauls upward on the rope, giving himself the vertical and horizontal momentum to get out away from the rock face. He reverses course in midair with a grand flap of wings that seem to come out of his shoes, neatly landing on the edge.]

Thanks, Maria.

[declamando]

[Maria is ready when the weight leaves the rope, so the impact on her stance is minimal, just a slight tilt forward and correction back. As soon as Dust is over the ledge, she starts to pull the rope back up again, undoing the knots as they reach her hands.]

It's no problem. I figured there would be other people up here, so I thought I should come prepared for that sort of trouble.

[She nods towards the ledge.]

[mithrarin]

I never expected the ground could just -- collapse like that. [He looks over his shoulder, trying to make sense of it.]

The lava traveled under the ground and ate it away, I think?

Mountain Climbing

[lookingforhead]

[The leap was a lucky one indeed, and just as lucky that there was someone nearby to hear it over the general din of the volcanic mountain. Celty comes running as safely as she can on the uneven and unstable ground as she hears the commotion and....unfortunately comes to the scene on an outcropping off to Dust's right.

She's not near enough to grab him and it would be more convenient if she were directly above him but...she takes quick stock of the situation and then holds out her hands. Shadow tendrils spread out as they flow from her sleeves and form a net beneath him. It looks like it might be a safe landing but they also seem to be sizzling and losing some of its cohesion in the heat mere feet above the lava. The net may not last long.]

[mithrarin]

[What -- oh, that's perfect. Dust lets go without a moment's hesitation, trusting himself entirely to the shadow net. Here's hoping he doesn't regret it!]

[lookingforhead]

[The net catches him and it's even just a bit...sticky? No not quite, clingy might be a better word. It's not a mesh like a proper net but more like a whole snarl of tendrils working together to support him. They sag a bit under his weight and the heat of the lava is very close below, but the whole of it manages to keep him from getting fried even if he is being gently roasted.

That doesn't last long though as the tendrils begin to flex and slowly pull him back towards solid ground.]

[mithrarin]

[About to leap for it, the stickiness of the net catches him off-guard and he sways, one hand going out for balance. Had not expected this! He's panting as the net rises, both fists balled with the impatient need to be doing anything more than sitting and being rescued.]

[lookingforhead]

[Sorry Dust, but Celty wants to make sure you're safe, even if it means going a tiny bit overboard on the protective aspects of what her powers can do. But a moment later and he's back on solid ground, away from the heat and neither sticky nor irreparably singed.

The shadows are dispelled and Celty begins to look him over, going through the physical motions of asking if he's alright. She doesn't bother getting her phone out, thinking she's being clear enough.]

[mithrarin]

[Honestly, he's doing better on the 'singed' part than ought to be expected. One has to wonder if being the Sen-Mithrarin comes with a certain refusal to acknowledge convection.]

[(The answer is probably "Yes" inasmuch as being the Sen-Mithrarin makes him a platform game protagonist.)]

I'm fine. What about you? You look like you took a lot worse from that than I did. [He's looking over her in turn with a frown, wondering how much the sizzle to her shadows did to her.]

[lookingforhead]

[She nods, and she is feeling a little frayed. Just because her resistances and durability are better than a normal human's doesn't mean she isn't feeling tired and a little toasty.]

I'm fine. And I don't really feel with the shadows like that. I can sense things but it's
I'm not sure how to describe it?

[It's like how she can hear or see or faintly smell. She doesn't know how it works and she's not sure how to describe it. It just works.]

Anyway, are you okay? Did someone attack you?

[She didn't see how he got into this situation. He might be able to salvage some dignity at least.]

[mithrarin]

[Dust will settle for her rescue efforts not hurting her. If they had... well, he would have been unhappy. Let's leave it at that.]

The ground collapsed beneath me. I guess the lava had been running beneath it, wearing it away without it looking suspicious on the surface.

[Why lie? His dignity vanished when he needed to be saved.]

[lookingforhead]

Ah I see
you need to be careful
I don't think even I could regenerate from this stuff

[Even if most people don't know about her regenerative powers, she's still managed to make the understatement of the week.]

Did you find any clues to what's going on here? Or were you still searching?

[mithrarin]

Now that I know that's an actual thing that can happen, I'll be ready for it next time.

[Dust is a bit annoyed, not so much at her warning as the fact that it happened in the first place. Why does he get so lucky? And he's more than a little sick of looking so worthless in front of people whose good opinion he'd like to have.]

I haven't seen a thing suspicious, yet.

[lookingforhead]

[She nods, mostly happy that he's safe but she can understand him feeling a bit indignant over the whole affair. Still, there will be time for that later.]

Me either. I'm going to head to the top. See if there's something up that way. Do you want to come with me?

[mithrarin]

Yeah, that's where I've been headed. Safety in numbers?

[At the very least, they bring different skills to the table. That's versatility, if nothing else.]