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

gas

[abgrund]

[ Ain hovers far above the ground, the swamp gas simply filtering though his shadow body instead of into his vessel. He's flying around the peak, scouring it for people who are stranded or in need of help.

Zelda is a familiar face, so he makes a beeline for her. Remembering Jakob's advice, he lands first, retracting his shadow wings before walking towards the princess. He has also assumed a more human appearance, dressed in a black trench coat and mountain boots. It's all about appropriateness.

Though, that question... it makes him can the greeting that he had prepared, putting up a slight frown. ]

A boy in green? Do you know him?

[ From his flight, he's sure he hasn't seen anyone. But maybe, he could be mistaken. ]

[sageprincess]

[There's... something different about Ain, about the way he approaches her, about the tone of his voice-- but it's not something she deems to be important right now, not when Link might be running around the heavens by himself.]

Yes. [She answers quickly, then pauses to cough a bit. Ugh, why do gods need to breathe, it makes no sense--] His name is Link. We hail from the same world, though... I cannot be certain if he knows that.

[Goddesses, that's a thought that settles in the pit of her stomach like a block of ice. What if he's a shinki? What if he doesn't know who she is? Is that why he's running from her? Zelda's normally fairly good at keeping her emotions in check, but here and now, anxiety is written on her expression as plain as day.]

[abgrund]

[ Seeing a friend from one's own world would get this sort of reaction. It is within reason, though it seems wrong to see Zelda so anxious.

So he nods. ]

I flew over the volcano just now. I didn't see anyone in this area of the peak, however...

[ Maybe Link has an illusory power or something? ]

[sageprincess]

You didn't? I was sure he came through here though...

[She lifts a fist to her mouth, deeply considering this new information, the gears in her mind clearly working overtime. But eventually, she shakes her head as though to clear her elaborate mental Etch-a-Sketch. She doesn't have time to waste here.]

Perhaps you missed him, as I have. I am sure he is rushing to help as many people as he can escape the danger of the eruption - no matter role he has been placed into, that would not change.

[Though it still bothers her that he won't stop when she calls for him, she's definitely certain of that much.]

[abgrund]

[ It bothers her as much as it bothers him, how he would forget a friend. Though, that might be because he lost his memory.... ]

Do you want to come with me, to look?

[ Ain holds out a hand. Maybe he just never noticed Link because he wasn't looking out for someone in particular. He could levitate Zelda with him so they can search together. ]

[sageprincess]

[She stares at his hand for a moment, considering. The fear of leaving the ground, of falling briefly flickering across her features. But it doesn't last - she places her hand in his, resolute.]

Yes, please.

[Finding this person is worth that risk, apparently.]

[abgrund]

[ Ain nods, summoning his wings once more so that they can leave the ground. His flight mainly works by canceling gravity, letting the two of them ascend at a reasonable pace. ]

Can you see anything?

[ He assumes his vision is different from others' in its sensitivity ]

[sageprincess]

[It's a little more elevator and a little less rushing take-off than she was expecting - has Ain always been able to fly? - but her thoughts quickly refocus on the person she must find above all else. The world below them is hazy with smoke and gas, but she scans the area anyway, and after a moment, points energetically in one direction.]

There! He is running that way!

[... There's... nothing there the rubble of old, abandoned temples.]

[abgrund]

[ Indeed, there is nothing there. However, Ain brings them closer to the direction that Zelda is pointing, just in case.

A few moments later, he offers tentatively: ]

I don't see him....

[sageprincess]

[Zelda seems very insistent as Ain floats them over, pulling on his arm a bit in the direction she wants him to go. Link is right there but Ain isn't going fast enough and keeps listing them a bit too far to one side, and--]

What do you mean you can't see him?

[It's probably the most agitated Ain's ever heard her outside of the cult discussion meeting. She doesn't understand...]

[abgrund]

[ He's realized that; the fact that he can't see this boy and the fact that it makes Zelda agitated.

For extra caution, he summons several void eyes to look; still nothing. ]

I can't see him. To me, there's nothing there. Even my other eyes cannot detect any life force... is he hidden by some kind of spell?

[ Or that he is an illusion... but, he doesn't want to voice that yet. It'll be safer if Zelda comes to that conclusion herself. ]

[sageprincess]

No-- no, he does not possess any magic like that.

[Her agitation begins to turn to distress as her mind turns over the possibilities, including the conclusion that Ain won't voice himself. No, no, that can't be possible, can it? She can't have been chasing a figment of her imagination all this time. The idea is too painful.]

... Put me down. [She adds, eventually, voice strained. She won't believe it. She can't believe it.] I will keep looking on my own.

[abgrund]

[ .....


Maybe he should have said something. But it felt too cruel. ]

I see. I will... if you need help, please call me. I will come.

[ He alights on the ash-strewn floor, withdrawing his hand into the depths of his dark sleeves ]

I won't tell anyone about it either. So, please don't worry.

[sageprincess]

[She shrinks in on herself as he withdraws from her, crossing her arms in a vain attempt at comforting herself. She said she would keep looking on her own, but her feet refuse to move. She remains rooted in this spot, paralyzed by what she's seen, what she's felt, and what it means. Her words are quiet, cracking like an old glass window slowly falling apart.]

He... He should be home, living a peaceful, happy life, but I...

[I wanted to see him again, she thinks but cannot bring herself to say, the words unable to push past all the history and guilt that lies in the way of them being voiced. She shouldn't want that - he's earned his peace, and this place is anything but peaceful - and yet--

She takes a deep breath, and if her eyes are wet and burning, it's because of the smoke, surely.]

... ... Thank you.

[abgrund]

[ Surely, it is due to the smoke.

Ain closes his human eyes. He remembers now, the moonless night that seems so long ago, a life that ceased to be his own when the darkness came.

<< I only wished to live... >>

That was never granted, of course. ]

It is not wrong to wish for your own happiness, too....

[ Because in the end, they are beings with emotions. Flawed as they are in creation, it becomes part of their identity, of their lives. If there is any fault in this, it would be in the hands of those who created them. ]

You are still human. Be easy on yourself.

[sageprincess]

Am I?

[Suijin didn't seem to think so. Her body definitely isn't that of a mortal's any more. And if the old legends are to be believed, her soul never was.

With a touch of bitterness, she adds:]

To wish for something one cannot have is the epitome of foolishness, is it not?

[abgrund]

[ Ain's eyes soften a little, as much as his visage can. ]

Who dictated that you cannot have it, princess?

[ Who indeed? Who created these boundaries to torment their creations?

Perhaps she'll come to this conclusion in her own time. It is not his place to force it.... not now. ]

If you so wish... we can speak of this again, at a safer place. First we must weather this event.

[ There are still people they need to help. ]