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

[killercoat]

[Akutagawa frowns as he sees the youth reappear on the other side of the crater. Amaterasu's shinki and Suzaku seem to be scrambling to reach him. That's when he figures that it might be a good idea to utilize Suzaku. He's a lot faster and more agile than him. Suzaku's the only one who was able to land a blow on the boy so far.]

Kururugi-san!

[ Akutagawa calls out to the other shinki, and while the white-robed shinki is giving chase, he offers a solution to Suzaku. He weaves out his coat fibers once, stretching them forward so that they cuts across the crater and anchors down at the opposite edge. He combines the fibers together to create a footbridge, fortifying it enough for someone to cross over.]

[veiledflame]

[On the other side of the crater, several minutes' journey away, the boy is already engaged in combat.

By the time the two of them will be able to arrive, he's vanished into a dark pillar of frozen stone, and the volcano is shuddering and cooling beneath them....]

[swordofzero]

[Suzaku turned at his name and nodding at the footbridge.] Thank you. [He sets off at a run, arriving as the boy is engulfed in lava, which cools and hardens. He looks around as the volcano begins to cool.]

He's gone. [Where, he has no idea. But his disappearance seems to have calmed the volcano.] That was very odd.

[killercoat]

[ Even when they manage to chase after the boy, their pursuit is cut short by the youth being surrounded by magma, and it hardens around him like some kind of cocoon. Akutagawa looks down into the pit of the volcano. Well, that was anti-climatic.

Akutagawa frowns, crossing his arms over his chest. He glares at the solidified lava that contains the rogue shinki.]

How cowardly. After all of that, he decides to run away, pathetic.

[swordofzero]

I wonder who he was. He seemed very young. [Extremely young and yet he had commanded such power. Able to control a volcano. To cool a volcano it seemed as the ground beneath them was solidifying, becoming more stable.]

[killercoat]

[ Akutagawa glances over at Suzaku. He agrees the boy was young, and he's almost envious of the boy's ability to control the volcano.]

...He seems very aware of what he was doing. Don't allow his age to fool you. Even a child can be a lethal assassin.

[swordofzero]

I'm aware of that. However most children do not do such things of their own accord. [Someone must be controlling him, using his power for their own gains.]

[killercoat]

You think he's being manipulated? It's very possible. Though you can't really help him if you have no clue of who might be pulling his strings.

[That kid didn't give them much to go on, so they really have little evidence to find the mastermind.]

[swordofzero]

It is likely. [Especially considering Votelli and her sensei.] Finding them will be the clue to all of this I believe.

[killercoat]

Though you have no leads to that integral key. That boy is certainly not the clumsy sort, he left no trace behind.

[swordofzero]

Exactly. It seems this is something we need to investigate. [And it wouldn't be easy. Much the same as the forest cultists. Perhaps they were connected, perhaps there were multiple conspiracies against the heavens.]

[killercoat]

I'm not one for investigating. Though if you need help apprehending that boy or anyone else involved, feel free to contact me.

[That's really all he can offer. He has more of a search and destroys mentality.]

[swordofzero]

I will. Thank you.

[He nodded and looked around. The volcano was cooling quickly, it was probably safe to leave. He should go and find Saber and Edge.]