Event 1: Gods and Monsters

[letsplayamod]

[Time is a bit difficult to measure in this place. The storms that rage beyond your safe barrier, overtaking the horizon with their shifting lights and shadows, aren't doing it any favors. If you were to ask Athena, she'd say it's been about a week since your arrival. And since then... there's been scant signs of things improving.

Today, you wake up to quiet. No drone of distant winds. Not even birdsong breaches your bedrooms. Like a inhaled breath, the world seems to have paused.

And then, it exhales. The ground under your feet trembles and shakes. Dirt flies. Rocks shower down from the direction of the cliffs.

There, like an open wound stabbed into the earth, was a large crack where there wasn't before, spilling out an oppressive red light. Stranger still, some larger rocks are floating over the opening itself.

...Investigate?]

Comments

[sweetsynergy]

[ha ha what]

[That's probably fine. Anything stopping her from approaching and looking down into the crack?]

[latinumsbetter]

Hey Vanity, bring me back a souvenir! [called after her lmao]

[raisethemoon]

[Luna takes to the sky as soon as the ground starts shaking, hovering only a foot or so above the heads of most others. Earthquakes are one thing, but that red light certainly does not seem to bode well...]

Keep thine distance! I shall investigate!

[Flapping closer to see what's what!]

[latinumsbetter]

Great idea! I'll stay right back here. Have fun!

[markofnobility]

[Also being airborne now thanks to Derick, Ferdinand follows suit, though a bit further back. Luna is apt to be faster than the bulky wyvern if she's anything like the pegasi back home]

Be careful Your Highness!

[catsgothistongue]

Hang on, I'm comin' with you!

[they fought a trigger-happy robot together, trust them they got this]

[latinumsbetter]

[hey you know who DOESN'T want to invesigate that??? THIS GUY.

Quark is defnitely going to be hanging back away from it, looking really pretty nervous about it.]

So, uh...who's gonna go check that out because it isn't going to be me.

[pariunt]

I can't say I want to get near it, either.

[tailoredfate]

[... Look, Aglaea may not be a front-line fighter these days, compared to Mydei and Phainon, but she's not going to stand around and do nothing.

Yeah she's absolutely going to approach. The glint of her threads appear and disappear around her, almost like a barrier, and every so often, there's a crackle of electricity along them.]

[tripartites]

[ hey, aglaea. they're faint, flickering. not always there when you look again. you might even think you may be imagining them. but as sayo approaches alongside, golden butterflies flutter and squirm in the air, almost in time with the crackling of the threads. ]

[pariunt]

...What the hells?

[That's not good.]

[catsgothistongue]

[WELL. THIS IS CERTAINLY A THING NOW.

Ranma doesn't panic when the ground beneath him quakes, though as the fissure erupts in the earth, he makes haste rushing over to check it out.]

Uhhh... Is this... normal?

[red flags so many red flags]

[eeeonetwothree]

I AM FLYING INTO THE CRACK.

[ And he begins to do just that. ]

[murchada]

[damn, should someone speak sense and tell him no?]

Cool, have fun.

[nah.]

[threeapplestall]

[Mutsumi should probably stay inside and let the adults handle this.

But... everyone's been so kind to her. She's got to pay them back, right? So slowly, ever-so-slowly, she creeps outside her room. Holding a frying pan. Just in case.]

[murchada]

[Cerejeira spots her over there. something about her just holding the frying pan... babygirl...]

...Don't get too close, okay?

[necromants]

[Zvei is used to putting himself in danger in the name of study, so like. Yeah he's going to check it out, why the hell not. Besides, we might need a healer on hand!!]

[markofnobility]

[Ferdinand, being the morning type that he is, was up early enough to 'hear' the eerie stillness. But any routine is broken by having to tend to poor Derick. The wyvern, perhaps like the missing birds, can sense something and is unruly and anxious even as Ferdinand tries to soothe him.

The sudden shaking makes the beast flap his wings and roar, and Ferdinand curse, clinging to his flank to not fall over. With a grunt he grabs the near by pole he used a few days ago in his spar with Athena and hauls himself onto the saddle. Up they go to investigate]

[latinumsbetter]

Hey, Ferdinand, you'd better have a good story about all this to tell me at the bar tonight, got it? [called after his dumb ass]

[tripartites]

[ well, the flashiness some of the others are taking with this all seems rather unnecessary. sayo advances with a kitchen knife and a makeshift sheath, getting close but not leaping into the maw like some people.

she still looks like she'd blow away in a stiff breeze, though. ]

[taintedfayth]

[Well, since Seymour is quite capable of defending himself should the need arise, he'll be approaching that crack to get a better look at it.

We don't love not having Anima here, but y'know, we can cope.]

[yourheroine]

[Aoi isn’t sure what to make of the rumbling. An event, maybe? But then she sees that red light from the fissure, and she freezes.]

…is this…an update?

[She looks to the sky. How’s it looking?]

[catsgothistongue]

S'more like a downgrade if you ask me...

[fillets]

[ Yeah, so this is her domain and she's not going to say anything aloud and risk getting the babysitters club on her case! She's grabbing a practice sword and advancing.

Also, because I forgot her stupid powers: can she sense anything specific about the crack that others might miss? Any sign of an intelligent presence? ]

[letsplayamod]

[An excellent question and the answer is...yes. She'll be able to sense an intelligent presence somewhere but not be able to pinpoint it.]

[cannotunravel]

[Yeah, Misane is among those who want to approach. She judges the fact she's not the only one means it's okay.

[latinumsbetter]

Hey, Misane, you gonna write a report when you get back or what? [called after her lmao]

[stringup]

[ Oh, there's the other shoe dropping, and she still doesn't have any of her stuff back. Fuck.

She ducks into the garden to grab a hatchet from the little hut, then heads over to the fissure to...take a look... ]

BOSS FIGHT: Soldiers

[letsplayamod]

Round 1

[letsplayamod]

[The soldiers surge forward with their weapons drawn.

Roll a 1d20 to avoid their initial attack. 1-10 means you will be locked in combat and unable to act, 11-20 will mean you'll dodge them and be able to act however you wish.]

Epilogue

[letsplayamod]

[You stand beaten, bruised, but ultimately victorious over your enemies. the ground is littered in the bodies of those strange soldiers.... but not for long. Like wisps of smoke and cinders, they are peeled away, shrinking into nothing but a bit of soot on the wind, leaving a battlefield marked by your first victory.

You can't celebrate just yet, however. The sky darkens once again, flashing a stark red, like the glow of the tear Athena just sealed. Then, seemingly from everywhere,]

Poor, poor Athena. Wisest of her kin, but still content to toy with the lives of mortals for her own ends. Know this: this is not over. Gahahaha-!

[The voice, one that none of you recognize, and rumbling like an avalanche, darkly taunts you. Just as quickly as it's suddenly in your ears, it's gone. The sky fades back into it's usual colors, and you are left to sit on this moment, not knowing how long it will last.]

Re: Epilogue

[sweetsynergy]

...okay who the fuck was that.

[ATHENA.]

BAR MINGLE

[latinumsbetter]

[After all that, and getting that fill-in from Athena, Quark walks away, Feridnand at his side. They head towards the Eatery; Cerejeira's already there before them. Together, they get the bar set up, just like the last couple evenings.

Once it's ready to go, Quark is going to add an addendum to his sign:

Alcoholic cocktails: 4 tokens each.

Then he's going to retreat back behind the bar, and wait for anyone who might join them]

[markofnobility]

[Ferdinand sits once they are done, snacking on more bar nuts and looking jittery. He doesn't buy a drink right away, but he's considering it.]

What a disaster...

oops.........

[brokenhabit]

[ Hey, anyone going back to their own room? If you happen to pass room 21 on your way there the door is uh.

Well.

It sure is covered top to bottom in thick, rigid vines.

On the other side of the door Lebkuchen's voice can be quietly (and tiredly) heard trying to call out: ]

Hello...? Is anyone out there...?

[ Thanks plant powers, you're a real one. Maybe be a little less protective and reactive next time. ]

[tailoredfate]

[... Oh. Hey, neighbor, that. Sure is a little somethin' you got on your door.]

Lebkuchen. Are you all right?

[Even as she says this, her threads are trying to weave through the vines, finding weak points to pull or cut through.]

Do I need to bring you any medical attention?