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

[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.]

[letteropener]

[Oh, she assumes he will be professional about it all, as he has been thus far. But it will save both of them any troubles, especially now that her skin is only tender and not protesting the clothing as it might have before.]

[Taking the utmost care, she takes his hand and swings her legs around to drop them to the ground. They tremble visibly as she puts weight on them, but hold.]

[reformedsinner]

[Hakkai puts a hand at her back, lightly; he's not holding her up, only steadying her, and making sure he's in a good position to catch if her wobbly legs give way before they get inside.]

You'll have to guide me, I'm afraid.

[He'd teleport, but he doesn't know the building, and that can end inside a wall.]

[letteropener]

It's going to be a bit of a trip. [The temple is large and very empty; Maris is here, but still not quite ready to go out and help. Celestia had been effective at cutting out her blight, but that had been a lot of blight to cut...] But straightforward. We simply go in and up about three flights of stairs...

[reformedsinner]

Three flights of stairs?

[He considers those wobbly legs again, shakes his head with firm disapproval, and puts an arm around her back.]

Please excuse me.

[--and, if she doesn't stop him, he's taking advantage of youkai strength to sweep her up into his arms.

It is his medical opinion that she is not allowed to walk up three flights when she can barely stand, not even with help.]

[letteropener]

[Celestia let out a very unPrincessly 'eep!' as he sweeps her up. This is -- well, this is certainly new and VERY unexpected! Acting on instinct, she grabs him to try to shift some of her weight onto his back and shoulders instead of his arms.]

This is something else again!

[reformedsinner]

Ha ha, please excuse my taking this small liberty.

I don't think you should walk up quite so many flights of stairs today!

[He seems to be managing her weight well; her grab for his shoulders helps him steady his balance as he steps through the front door and looks for the stairs.]

[letteropener]

[The absurdity of the situation sets in a moment later, and Celestia starts to laugh. Just a giggle at first, but it becomes full-throated and downright paralytic very quickly. She buries her head in his shoulder because she can't keep it upright, her whole body shaking. It might verge close to hysteria after everything she's been through, but she doesn't sound out of control quite yet anyway.]

[What a story she has from today to tell everypony else! Her subjects won't believe her and her sister will laugh and laugh!]

[reformedsinner]

[She breaks into laughter that swiftly escalates to hysteria, hiding her face against Hakkai's shoulder, and he smiles to himself.

Well. As responses to trauma, exhaustion and injury go, hysterical laughter is on the mild side, and one that he feels a deep understanding of, too.

He'll just breeze in and up the stairs -- three flights, which are a slight strain by the time he reaches the top, but not impossible -- and look for a room to deposit her in.]

[letteropener]

[The temple is quite like a palace, culled from Celestia's mind as it is, and thus spacious and luxurious and stunningly empty. Clearly it is meant for more than one pony, or one and her cracked vessel shinki and pet phoenix, so her laughter and his footsteps tend to echo emptily in the large hall.]

[Holding herself together as best she can, she lifts a hand to point to a large set of double doors down the hall.]

[reformedsinner]

Ah, all right!

[Off he goes; at the double doors, though, he's going to have to set her gently back on her feet. Hopefully she can manage that-- she seems to be calming down a little.

It's a very empty temple.]

[letteropener]

[Isn't it, though? Philomena is out surveying the carnage, as helpful as her owner when the chips are down, but those three are the only inhabitants of this palace.]

[Though she's wobbly and moves without her usual grace, Celestia doesn't fall or sway too badly once her feet are underneath her. A little support from a hand on the wall is all she needs, and she can even concentrate enough to telekinetically open the doors.]

[reformedsinner]

[She seems set; Hakkai smiles, stepping back to give her plenty of room to open the doors, and offers a shallow bow.]

Please, rest well tonight. I should get back to the volcano myself, and see if anyone else needs medical attention.

[letteropener]

Yes, absolutely. You've spent far too much time on me already. [Just the treatment alone would have been enough, and even then she still feels as if his time might have been better spent elsewhere.]

[Keeping herself propped up, she turns to shine the brightest smile she can muster on him.] I appreciate your aid a very great deal. I'll take care of myself from here on out, have no fear.