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]

[ Ugh, she wasn't going to do anything as gauche as -

So be it: she'll ask point-blank. She has such a good angle for looking down the bridge of her nose at him, and everything! ] Can you quell this eruption?

[veiledflame]

Maybe.

[His expression is flat.]

But only if you ask nicely.

[priforprince]

Ghk.

[ Hibiki swallows, brows twitching. Nice....ly.

This prospect somehow seems to daunt her even more than a duel to the death... ]

[veiledflame]

[He laces his fingers together behind his head, and waits.

Nicely.]

[priforprince]

Rrrnnnnggh.

[ Hibiki's fists clench. She raises her sword, then lowers it - that is not "nicely". ]

You won't....yield through combat.....?

[ Only through.... ]

[veiledflame]

If you really wanna fight, we can fight, but I'm not gonna tell you anything even if you can beat me.

[Not that he thinks she can. Besides, it's a lot funnier watching her struggle with trying to say 'please.']

[priforprince]

I demand to meet the parents that taught you such cheek!

[ ...NOT JUST NICELY

BUT ALSO WITH "PLEASE"?! ]

[veiledflame]

Demanding's not asking nicely.

[... he's definitely having too much fun with this.]

[priforprince]

How am I supposed to entreat the person who caused this mess?!

[ and hurt Wendy

and hurt Wendy -- ]

My filming starts next week!

[ and the volcano hurt Wendy

She has the solution in her sight, and yet, for it to be this.... ]

[veiledflame]

You're the one who decided all on your own that this is my fault!

[He scowls: whether it is or not, he sure never admitted it. He doesn't think. Not in so many words, anyway.]

I don't care about your filming or whatever.

[priforprince]

That much is obvious!!

[ What with the whole "refusing to obey genre conventions and submit after due combat", and such. It figures such an ignoramus would also fail to appreciate cinema on all levels.

Hibiki sighs. ] How did such a ridiculous conundrum come to pass...

[ If she wants the volcano to stop, she has to say "please".

If she says "please", she's yielding to the person who (indirectly) hurt Wendy.

"Victory by yielding" is a thing that, to the overwhelming presence and stunning perfection of Shikyoin Hibiki, could not possibly sound more absurd.

If things were going to come to this, the volcano should have just declined to explode in the first place! ]

[veiledflame]

[She's having a lot of trouble with this. A lot. Sotero stares at her, straight-faced, as she struggles.

Eventually, he shrugs, and takes a step back.]

Okay, if you don't wanna, I can just go.

[priforprince]

Wait!

[ Hibiki catches herself after she's already thrown a hand out, fingers splayed, in a gesture of desperation. Lowering said hand, she stands up straighter, even as her chin sinks down. ] I'll say it.

[ She bites her lips, and vows with regal solemnity: ] I can say it.

[veiledflame]

Really?

[Prove it.]

1/hibiki

[priforprince]

[ Hibiki swallows, steeling herself. She's doing this for Wendy, actually. She promised she would stop the volcano. And this will stop the volcano.

She can do this and still behave as suits Shikyoin Hibiki. ]

2/hibiki

[priforprince]

[ yes, she will do this

HER WAY! ]

hibiki/3

[priforprince]

[ A hand goes to her chest... ] This eruption blights both the land and my heart.

[ ....and then to her forehead, as she turn to offer a dashing profile. The air is alight, and abuzz, with sparkles - all focused on highlighting that Hibiki is Suave and Impressive.

Such an audience is likely to be unmoved by amore, but Hibiki knows from experience that no one can possibly remain unmoved when she unleashes the full might of her handsome coolness.

Yes, COOL is needed to thwart a volcano! Behold the cleverness that only geniuses possess! ]

Put an end to it for my sake, if you please!!

hibiki is glorious, i'd just like you to know

[veiledflame]

[That's a lot of sparkles. Sotero gawks, jealous that his sparks are the sort that burn holes in clothes instead of just looking, well, sparkly.

How come he doesn't look that cool?

Still, okay, there's an important negotiation going on, and she did her part, so it's time to move to step two. He props a hand on his hip and inquires:]

What's in it for me?

she sure is the hibikiest hibiki to ever hibiki

[priforprince]

A major role in my feature film.

[ This audience had said they didn't care about that. Well. Let's see if Hibiki can't change the young gentleman's mind.

She looks Sotero dead in the eyes with a self-assured smirk - and such confidence only makes her look cooler. ]

You'd like that, wouldn't you? A chance to learn from my radiance.

[veiledflame]

[On one hand: she actually is super cool.

On the other hand...]

Movies are dumb.

[It's possible he's never actually seen one. His scowl is defensive.]

[priforprince]

And so you'd throw away an opportunity to polish yourself?

[ A single keen sparkle winks next to her face. You could keep a warehouse of ice cream in pristine condition in the dead of summer with all the Coolness Hibiki is exuding. ]

No wonder these surroundings are dull....

[veiledflame]

Who says I want to be more like you anyway? Especially from spending a bunch of time working on a movie?

I'm doing more important stuff!

[That declaration is much more strident than his first claim not to be interested in movies.]

[priforprince]

[ ....WHAT SORT OF UNREASONABLY STUBBORN AUDIENCE IS THIS

Very well. Hibiki sighs. She supposes she will hear what this boy is up to - the better to dismiss it in favor of her film.

Er. Of stopping the volcano.

(And her film.) ]

What could possibly qualify?

[veiledflame]

I'm gonna make Heaven be fair to everybody!

[Fists clenched, leaning forward, fervent belief on his face: Sotero looks, for a moment, almost like he ought to be sparkling, too.

(Sadly, without the Hibiki Skills, he's not.)]

[priforprince]

[ It would really add something to the pose, though, young sir. Perhaps you should reconsider that movie option.

Hibiki sniffs. ] If it's revolution you seek, it's well underway. Quit this disturbance and leave the summoning of a golden age to me.