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

[sassywelshcatgirl]

I am a Driver, yeah.

[Nia doesn't put the gesture and the comment together, figuring he's just looking for support. This misunderstanding will surely have no consequences.]

[reformedsinner]

[That's an odd way to put it, but Hakkai nods, and gestures to the driver's seat.]

In that case... I'm a little nervous about whether I should be driving when I can't trust what I see. Would you mind accompanying me until this wears off?

[sassywelshcatgirl]

Yeah, sure, no problem. Is -- this your Blade?

[She peers at the Jeep curiously. It seems pretty darn quiet and still for a Blade...]

[reformedsinner]

He's my car. Jeep, Nia; Nia, Jeep....

["Blade"? How do you drive a blade?

Jeep's engine revs, questioning.]

[sassywelshcatgirl]

Uh, hey, Jeep. You -- don't mind me using your weapon, then?

[This is so weird. Can Jeep not even talk?]

[reformedsinner]

He's not my weapon. Usually, I fight unarmed... ah, Nia?

[This is definitely beginning to sound as though they might be misunderstanding one another.]

When I say drive, I do mean drive cars.

[sassywelshcatgirl]

Cars? You mean the vehicles people in the Near Shore zoom around in? [She'd seen them, she just doesn't understand them.] That's what you Drive instead of Blades? How -- how the bloody hell does that work?

[reformedsinner]

... Yes. Like Jeep.

[Not precisely like Jeep, to be fair: none of the vehicles on the Near Shore turns into a dragon, and none of them appear to be anything like sentient.

That said, he definitely has the feeling he shouldn't be letting Nia drive.]

Ah, I suppose I can, if you look out for obstacles? I'll explain what I'm doing.

[She can learn a little and he'll avoid driving off any cliffs he doesn't mean to drive off.]

[sassywelshcatgirl]

I'm going to admit, you've totally lost me. I've got no clue how you Drive something that isn't a Blade. But my vision's clear, at least. I can do that for you.

[Shaking her head, Nia starts to climb in. She gets THAT much at least from having seen them down in the Near Shore.]

Guessing they didn't have these things where I come from.

[reformedsinner]

Cars? Well, maybe not. I can't imagine what you mean by driving a blade, myself, unless it's "driving a blade through a target"...

[He shrugs, and settles into the seat, letting his hands rest on the steering wheel.]

This controls the direction the car travels in; turn it to the right to turn right, to the left to turn left.

[sassywelshcatgirl]

Oh no, you've lost me already. [As flat as can be. Come on, that one's easy. She's not Goku, the steering wheel doesn't have to be made of food for her to pay attention to it.] Blades are artificial lifeforms a Driver brings out of their Core Crystal by resonating with it.

[reformedsinner]

You did say you'd never even heard of driving.

[So: the basics are important! Start with the basics. He gestures to the floor under the steering wheel.] Down there you'll find the pedals. To the far right is the gas pedal, the center is the brake, and over on the left is the clutch.

[Lecturing helps. It's not really surprising; the familiar didactic mode is soothing, and it makes it easier for him to remember that the shadows and movement surrounding him is no more than shadow.]

Jeep is a life form himself, but he can transform from this vehicle into his dragon form whenever he likes. I don't control it.

[sassywelshcatgirl]

[Sounds like Jeep is a little like her, she thinks but sure as hell doesn't say.] Yeah, but left is left and right is right, what the hell else are you going to do?

[She leans to one side to get a look at the pedals, a little frown on her face.] I get wanting him to stop, but why are you clutching him and giving him gas?

[reformedsinner]

The gas pedal makes him accelerate -- it's called that because "gas" is a car's fuel. The clutch is used when you're changing speed...

[If she's never heard of cars, he's going to have to explain transmissions, too, he realizes, and demonstrates, beginning to accelerate before shifting from first to second gear.]

He works best in different gears at different speeds. One is for when you're speeding up from a stop, two is for traveling at lower speeds, and three is for traveling at higher speeds.

[sassywelshcatgirl]

[Is it good or bad that Nia doesn't remember that in Alrest, people created vehicles by wiring machinery into Titans to steer them? That might make things more understandable... or even more confusing.]

Huh. I'm not sure I get it, but I'll try and follow along. So it's all basically making him go, making him stop, and changing up for speed?

[reformedsinner]

That's right. You'll want to change down as well if you're slowing down.

[He slows as he approaches a turn-- normally he wouldn't, but with his eyesight less than trustworthy, he's cautious. He glances at Nia.]

-- The road turns to the left here, doesn't it?

[sassywelshcatgirl]

Yeah, take it nice and slow, I'll help you out. [She sticks a hand out to grab onto the wheel, the better to help guide him through it.] So he doesn't do anything to help out like this?

[reformedsinner]

Thank you. [He may have flinched defensively when she reached for the wheel, but he's letting her grab it anyway; he can do this. He can be perfectly reasonable.

To make sure that she doesn't accidentally turn them too sharply, he's easing up on the gas.]

He can, but he's limited in how much he can see, and if he and I react differently it might cause a wreck.

[sassywelshcatgirl]

Oh, I get it.

[Poor guy! Nia isn't good at sympathy or anything or she'd offer some. Instead, she focuses on making the turn careful and gentle, as much as she can when she's not familiar with just how much a wheel needs to turn.]

Here we go, aaaand... got it.

[reformedsinner]

Ah-- thank you.

[She's taking it very carefully; Hakkai glances over at her, blinking as her face goes indistinct and sharp-fanged. Well, it seems he can't trust his eyes to read her expression, either.

That's really a shame.]

I think I'll try heading a little way away from the mountain to see if that clears my head.

[If it weren't that he feels so unfocused, he'd have tried to teleport. But as it is...

As it is, that sounds like an excellent way to find out how it feels to be inside a wall.]

[sassywelshcatgirl]

Yeah, good idea. Who knows how much stuff's in the air right now... You know, we could try a little spray of water and see if that cleans you up at all. At least you're probably dry.

[Who wouldn't be, in these circumstances?]

[reformedsinner]

To drink, you mean? Or do I have too much ash on my face?

[He throws her a wearily amused glance.]

[sassywelshcatgirl]

Maybe to clear out your eyes. [Nia growls this impatiently, before biting in her temper.] How should I know what's got you seeing things?

[reformedsinner]

Oh, well... it's nothing in my eyes, I'm afraid.

[No, whatever it is is definitely affecting his brain. Although, considering the possibilities of magic, it's also not impossible that it's affecting his brain because there's something in his eyes-- for a moment, Hakkai considers this unpleasant possibility, and sighs.]

Or if it is, it's bound to get in them again if I stick around here.

[sassywelshcatgirl]

Could try some healing? Don't know if it counts as actually harming you, but... [She's got what she's got, you know? If all you've got is a hammer, treat a problem like a nail.]