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

[reformedsinner]

After a certain amount of time has passed, it can be hard to tell the difference between the three.

[Curiously, he adds:]

How long ago was that 'flame of friendship' in your world?

[letteropener]

Two thousand years or so.

[She can answer swiftly and surely, without hesitation at all. The figure is actually quite close to that, so the round number is barely a rounding error at all.]

[reformedsinner]

By now, mustn't there be quite a bit of myth and legend mixed in to your story, too?

[His tone is cheerful, but a bit teasing.]

[letteropener]

[Celestia laughs softly and a bit hoarsely, rough edges rasping in her warm voice.] Oh, goodness no. I've made sure of that.

[reformedsinner]

Really? How?

[Hakkai squints ahead; there's a building coming up on the left...]

-- ah, is that your temple?

[letteropener]

Just around the corner from it. You will recognize it by it looking like a giant palace.

[No point trying to hide THAT.]

As for how, I make sure the history is retold properly in the pageant.

[reformedsinner]

Ah, but I meant how can you be sure exactly how it happened? Records aren't always reliable, after all, even if they survive.

[letteropener]

Oh, they told me about it firsthoof. And Star Swirl the Bearded confirmed the parts they didn't quite understand.

[reformedsinner]

[Firsthand, Hakkai automatically translates, and clears his throat.]

Ha ha, please forgive me for asking such a rude question, but-- how old are you, exactly?

[letteropener]

Oh, a little older than Equestria. [Celestia is nowhere near so far gone that she can't smile at him in sly amusement.]

[reformedsinner]

So, hmm...

... two thousand years, give or take?

[He looks surprisingly un surprised.]

[letteropener]

Yes, we reformed the calendar so I've lost track of the exact number.

[In the Far Shore, why SHOULD he be surprised? She's already a talking winged unicorn, what's left to be skeptical about?]

[reformedsinner]

Well, in that case, I suppose I'll have to withdraw my objections about sourcing. [He chuckles easily.]

[letteropener]

I appreciate it! [She gives him a smile that actually has a little energy behind it. With the help of his medication, her body and mind are rallying and she is starting to feel better. Her shivering has mostly stopped as well, now that the burns have healed to tender but temperature-stabilizing skin.] My sister and I are a bit unique in that respect.

[reformedsinner]

Lives that long aren't normal for, ah, unicorns?

[Do the wings make her something else? He's fairly sure most Western unicorns don't have wings, but perhaps some do.]

[letteropener]

Alicorns are quite different from ordinary ponies in many ways, and my sister and I are special exceptions even past that. There are some other beings as long-lived as we are, but... well, he's quite a different beast altogether, and I mean that in every way you could possibly imagine.

[reformedsinner]

Alicorns, ah, my mistake. [So there is a difference.]

Hmm. [His eyebrows quirk up as he glances in her direction, and adds:] That must be lonely.

[letteropener]

I have met more ponies and made more friends than anypony else has ever or will ever done. How could I think of myself as anything less than lucky?

[Both statements are true, in fact. Nothing stops that. But she does consider herself very fortunate, and the price she pays for it to be trivial in comparison for what she has.]

[reformedsinner]

Of course. [That's not actually an answer, in any way, to the question of whether she is or is not lonely. Meeting people and making friends -- and losing them to old age again and again -- sounds nearly unbearable, as far as Hakkai is concerned.

But she would have had plenty of time to come to terms with it, too. Perhaps it's good practice for losing everything and everyplace she knows, to find herself in a world like this one.

He chuckles.]

I suppose it's hard for me to imagine, since I'm not even thirty yet.

[letteropener]

[It is only unbearable till you learn to let go. Accept those who come into your life will leave. Cherish the time you have with them, and never regret it once they have passed. Know that every hello comes with a goodbye.]

[It is not easy, but she can do it, has done it, will do it. And with all her heart she knows that she is lucky.]

Oh, and yet so good at medicine even at your age?

[She's teasing, mostly to lighten the mood.]

[reformedsinner]

As a matter of fact, I've only taken up compounding medicines in the last few months! Ha ha, thank you for helping me test that burn cream.

[He's also joking: at least, insofar as he had tested the burn cream on himself first.

The rest of it is quite true, and he's keeping his face as sincere as he possibly can to match.]

[letteropener]

I am glad I could be of service. [Really, if she were going to get hurt, it might as well be useful to somepony, right?]

[She pokes a hand out from beneath the blanket, indicating the temple that appears to be a large palace straight out of fairy tales.] There is mine.

[reformedsinner]

Ha ha, so am I. [He shoots her an amused smile and turns through the gate towards Celestia's palace.]

-- shall I help you inside?

[He's not sure she should be walking, if it's too far between the front door and somewhere to sit down. Palaces are not known for being cozy and compact, particularly not fairy-tale palaces.]

[letteropener]

[Celestia takes a moment to assess herself. Her mind has, for the most part, cleared; her body is not doing so well, as adrenaline has drained out of her system, leaving her weak and shaky.]

I would appreciate that, but please give me but one second.

[She closes her eyes and very carefully patterns her thoughts in a particular mental image. Beneath the blanket, light flashes around her as the clothing tucked away in her pouch unfolds itself, then slips around her.]

That should make things slightly less awkward, I think.

[reformedsinner]

[There's a flash of light, and the soft rustle of cloth, and Hakkai nods with a half-smile. He's medic enough not to be particularly concerned about an injured person being wrapped in a blanket instead of fully dressed, but if it helps her feel less awkward, so much the better.]

Ready?

[He stops Jeep nearby and slips out of the driver's seat, crossing around in front of the car to offer Celestia a hand.]