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

[towards_okeanos]

A hope not the landslide. It could be pretty difficult to dig out all those temples from the mud.

[Suddenly Ginia may find herself locked in an embrace. If she makes any move indicating she doesn't like it he will let her go, apologize and politely back off.
If she doesn't though he will hold her and she can find out it's not that bad to get a free hug from King of Conquerors.]

Don't be mad at me, girl. Were you free I would take you in in an instant. But not like this. Not like this.
I don't know much of this nora thing you speak of. I just feel the bond of shinki with her god is something special. Intimate even. What I have with Satya is sacred. It would feel inappropriate, nay, downright painful to share it with any other god.
Maybe I am an old fool but that is how I feel.
I admire your resolve and wish to protect everybody, I really do. Yet there are some sacrifices where the cost is just too high.
At least that's how I see it. I can understand that many may not share my beliefs. I am an old man from a bygone era. My world doesn't exist now. It ceased to exist many centuries ago. I am at peace with that.
This new modern one? Sometimes even I don't understand it at all.
So don't be mad at me, girl.

[unlucky7]

[The hug is unexpected and for a second she's a rabbit, frozen in place as her mind processes the surprise. But it's not a bad hug, weighty, warm sincere, and her shoulders relax.

An old man from a bygone era. Funny, it's similar to what Caster has said before. She doesn't grudge Caster for his stance on nora - though now she wishes they'd actually talked about it instead of finding out everything from Archer - and his role as her god is valued and cherished.

Yet her is also her lover, cherished and loved, shared with Archer and Zelda (and Emer forever always and ever). The long history of Cú Chulainn's lovers was known from the start and she doesn't mind. It means he's loved and cared for.

The irony of a god with multiple shinki and lovers and so stringent about nora is not lost on her. Or perhaps its not irony but different values of different times.

"I would never choose another god against your will." Her words echo again and again. She's never taken them back, never regretted them, because it's true. There are too many people she cares about and couldn't stand to see any of them come to harm. If she can help, if she can do something, then why not?

But also maybe there's a line of selfishess too. A shinki with multiple names requires every name for a spell to work. She's seen in in action. It's a line of pragmatism wrapped around her morals, the need and skills to survive crossed with her willingness to sacrifice everything for another.

Funny how once she said she couldn't imagine dying for another. Funny now she's put her life on the line so many times.

Ginia pulls away from Iskandar's hug. She's not mad. Not at him, not at Caster, not at anyone really. Not even herself.

But she's tired and that's no state of mind to be in when trekking up a volcano toward the unknown. Ginia pulls away from Iskandar's hug, leans on the edge of the chariot as she looks down at the surroundings below them, picking out her words.]

A nora is a shinki named by multiple gods. The old gods largely look down upon them. Opinions on them vary among the new.

I'm not mad. I'm not disappointed either. A shinki forcing a god to name them is as wrong as a god forcing a name on a shinki.

I'm not mad at Caster either. I love him, I think I always will. I respect his beliefs too. But maybe I'm not the right shinki for him anymore.

[towards_okeanos]

[Well that doesn't explain a lot. Not a thing he didn't know before. It feels so strange to be in league with the old gods of this place on any matter. Yet how can he not be. Whatever their reasons he has his own. The whole concept of sharing your shinki with some other feels utterly alien to him. He'd barely adjusted to the fact of having a shinki at all. He might have been a man ahead of his time in his life but here and now? He's seriously lagging.]

That is something you should discuss with him not me.

Let me just say this. It so happens that sometimes one can disagree on principle even with one's closest of friends. Disagree that much that it makes nigh impossible to work together. [That's speaking from personal experience. You try to hold so many, so different people as one army, your getting yourself into a world of pain as there bound to be disagreements.]
It does not mean you stop loving them dearly. Sometimes there would be ways to work around the disagreement, to get to terms, maybe reach a comprise. Sometimes all you need is to make the first move and talk. Sometimes all you need is time. Sometimes there won't be a way. All of those outcomes one has to accept. Accept that there may be things you won't be able to do together and hope for the best. A change maybe. Either in you or them or in circumstances that could make your disagreement irrelevant at all. All those things may happen. All those things I've seen happen. A strange thing life is, it can surprise you in most unexpected of ways. [And no, it does not matter if you have pulse or not. As long as your walking and talking with anywhere near to being self-conscious that's living in his book.]
It just would be wrong to let disagreements fester into resentment.

So go talk to him, clear the air, let both of you some time to decide how you would like to settle your matters.

[Iskandar would never suggest that they should part ways. It is not his call to make. Still she did get herself in a tight spot indeed. Maybe separating, even for a time, could relief some of that pressure. ]

[unlucky7]

[Iskandar's words are wise and fair. It's easy to see how he inspired so many to follow him, why he's so revered. He'd be a good god to serve, though that bridge is burned. Satya is lucky, as lucky as shinki can be anyway.

Nothing is permanent here. That much is true. They are all here in roles they didn't ask for and making the best of everything. Caster will always be the god she wants to serve, but it's too easy for a shinki to drag their god down and she won't be Caster's downfall, Archer's or Lancer's either.

They'll talk, maybe come to a compromise, but Ginia knows she's already asked too much of Caster. It's the second time for her, third total, she won't make him bend on his beliefs again.]

I appreciate your words, Iskandar. I'll give them some thought. But for now, I think you should put me down. I can walk the remainder.

[towards_okeanos]

[The request comes as a bit of a shock considering that they are still traversing over flaming rivers of lava. Iskandar will have none of it. He will deliver her to safety first and then she's free to do as she pleases. Because right now he doesn't believe she's in any state to go hiking an active volcano. Even if it's downwards.]

Nonsense! There is no way I'm leaving you here! Tell me where you want to go. I may prefer the chariot but that doesn't mean I can't teleport you anywhere you wish. At least choose somewhere safe!

It's not like I've got to hurry anywhere, eh?

[unlucky7]

[Even if she understands he's being reasonable and concerned for her safety, her temper flares at the denial of her request. Her left hand inches toward the halberd position, always ready with borderlines and knives.]

I will go to the top of this volcano and find an answer one way or another. If you will not put me down, should I take it as you're holding me against my will?

[towards_okeanos]

[She'd better hold on to something because the chariot drops to the ground almost instantly. There is loud thump as all wheels and hoofs connect with the soil at the same time, followed by crack of lightning and a rising of a cloud of ash disturbed by their sudden landing.]

Fine. Have it your way.

[Iskandar expression is difficult to read. If anything it's probably closest to hurt. She wants to scorn his help and his concern? Wants to act stupid? Very well. She's her own woman. He won't interfere.]

Let none say that King of Conquerors holds his friends hostage for any reason. Good hunting.

[unlucky7]

[Perhaps it's fitting Ginia is unraveling her relationships in the middle of a volcano crisis. She nearly falls as the chariot plunges to the ground, an arm around the edge of the wall keeping her upright. An apology wells, but she swallows it down as she adjusts her mask and steps from the chariot to the ground.

She bounds off, jumps long and arching as shinki can do, effortlessly putting space between her and Iskandar. Run away, run away, it's what she's good at and today is no exception.]

[towards_okeanos]

[Iskandar stands in his chariot and watches as Ginia disappears in the distance his anger subsiding leaving only sadness.
The ash in the air makes visibility drastically worse yet for a moment he thinks he sees a shadow of her silhouette against the ash clouds growing smaller and smaller.
Then nothing.

Take care, girl, don't let the mountain eat you.

There's no use standing there. He takes to the air steering a bit too mindlessly but his bulls know him well enough to make the ride smooth.

Pride, the downfall of men. Too much pride on both ends. Yet what are warriors if not prideful. How can they not be.

He plans to make few more trips around the mountain. Maybe he'll spot something interesting. Maybe not but he's now much less enthusiastic about the whole endeavour.]