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

[nopixiedust]

"Hey-!" Being grabbed so suddenly has her kicking in alarm, although that soon stops when she starts coughing again. It'll leave Edge's scarf wet, but that's the price he's going to be paying here.

"Where?"

[onehandsomeslickninja]

Oh, no. Oh, horrors. A wet scarf. That was too steep a price to pay, better abandon her to her fate.

"Away!" he said, tucking her close in to his chest to minimize the jarring as he hopped over a large fallen column. "If you've got requests, I'll listen!"

[nopixiedust]

"Cen-" Another spasm of coughing, and she tries to curl up tighter into herself. "Central district. Cleaner-!"

[onehandsomeslickninja]

"Oh good, you're all right," Edge said, sliding carefully down the far side of a large slab of stone. "I can tell because you're still treating me like I'm an idiot."

Honestly, where else was he going to go, into the volcano? But his voice is all pretend indignation, which poorly masks real amusement, which does a slightly better job of hiding how worried he really is.

[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.

[onehandsomeslickninja]

That's okay. Edge had her, and he was getting her the hell out of here at a run. Never mind how tired he was, he could worry about that later. Once he hit the wider streets, the going was much clearer, and he kept her as steady as he could in her arms as he sprinted for safety.

If she didn't start sounding better soon, though...

[nopixiedust]

Well, she's not sounding any worse, that's for certain. The cough is pretty deep in her throat, forcing her to shake ever few moments, but that hasn't stopped her from still trying to clean her eyes. The world is an aggravating blur, and she doesn't like it.

"Where- are we now?"

[onehandsomeslickninja]

"Further east," was all the answer he really had, given that he'd been focused more on 'getting away' and less on 'going toward'. "More towards the north, I think."

[nopixiedust]

"Ugh... East-" She shoves her fists against her eyes, as if that can help clear her tears any quicker. "Hardly any better. Probably." That wasn't too far from the Western District, when it all came down to it, right?

[onehandsomeslickninja]

There was only so far they could go! "It is better, you just aren't in a spot to tell right now." He slowed down a bit, though he had to admit that 'better' wasn't really 'good'. She needed some water, at least...

[nopixiedust]

"The spot I'm in- is you carrying me." But he does have a good point. Talking is hurting her throat too much anyway... So, with no better option, she falls silence and just works on her eyes.

[onehandsomeslickninja]

"You were pretty low on my list of potential damsels in distress here, you should know."

If they keep heading north, they'll hit the river -- not a bad idea, in his mind. So he picked up the pace again, still doing his best to keep her steady as he took the streets at a jog,

[nopixiedust]

Wendy may not be able to speak without going into a coughing fit, but sometimes her tiny fists can do the talking for her. Scowling behind soot and tears, she jabs her elbow into his chest.

Fight her. Maybe not right now, but fight her.

[onehandsomeslickninja]

Oof! "Oh sure, complain about the compliment!" No, no, this was good. He'll take cranky sassy Wendy over weak and helpless Wendy any day.

At his pace, the northern river wasn't too far in terms of time; soon enough, the sight of it prompted him to hurry up. "Across the river it ought to be better, and you can even clear your throat a bit."

[nopixiedust]

Prying one set of eyelids open, Wendy tries to see past all the tears. It's not really doing much for her, honestly, but she's trying. "Is that what that noise is?" Because her ears aren't messed up, thankfully. She can hear something, but she hadn't been entirely sure what it was.

[onehandsomeslickninja]

"Yeah, it should be." Looking around, Edge spotted a nearby bridge and made for it, quickly tromping over the sturdy wood to the far side. He rounded the far edge and came down to the water, almost sliding to a halt on the bank of the river.

Quickly, he shifted Wendy to one arm, then dropped the other scarflike end of his mask into the water. Letting it soak a moment, he then pulled it back up and let it bump against Wendy's hand. "Here, scrub yourself off."

[nopixiedust]

That's running water, right? That's what it sounds like, past all the other noise like being moved around and the distant sound of the volcano. Wendy is already feeling out for the end of the scarf by the time Edge brings it up to her, and she wrinkles her nose a little. "Thanks." Making an even worse face, she starts to clean at her eyes.

"When I find out what's responsible for all of this, I'm going to ruin its life."

[onehandsomeslickninja]

"I'm not sure a volcano has a life, but I believe you'll find a way regardless." He wasn't even really joking; Wendy seemed like the kind of girl who would, somehow, Find A Way. But he was just relieved she seemed to be recovering, taking a moment to -- not quite calm down, but acknowledge that his heart not pounding really felt wrong at the moment.

[nopixiedust]

"I absolutely will." Stupid volcano. Stupid git who probably set it off. Grumbling to herself, Wendy continues to take care of washing out her eyes. She thinks it's getting better, but it's a little hard to tell. The combined effect of tears and water in her eyes makes things tricky, but that's fine. So long as nothing stings as much.

"So, have you been running around, too?"

[onehandsomeslickninja]

"All over. I stayed by the temples with Minako dropping Borderlines down till I couldn't make another one, then went up onto it trying to figure out the source. Ended up getting pinned down by lava and had to retreat, so here I am." Edge was still stuck at an awkward angle since she was using the scarf end of his mask, but he didn't begrudge it at all.