april event, phase one: seeds of unrest 🌱

[beleos]

THE BEGINNING

Summertime in Springstar has been on its way out, heralding the arrival of fall; winter has likewise given way to spring in Highstorm - at least, according to the calendar. Yet there is an unseasonable bite on the breeze - one growing as frigid as the mood among Meris and Zenites in their cities. Between Alenroux’s occupation and talk of ‘the Blight,’ worries have been on the lips of the citizens with increasing frequency - and with good reason. The reports of plant life dying, of objects crumbling, of people whose bodies are deteriorating are dominating the rumor mills and local papers.

Everything comes to a head early in the second half of Pelu.

After an unusual pocket of commotion in the Seat of the Tribune and the courtyard of Yima’s manor, an urgent announcement is made on behalf of both cities: both Great Trees have been quarantined, and no one is permitted in either location without clearance. New rumors spread of an ‘incident’ that saw those in the immediate vicinity of the Trees rapidly demonstrating symptoms of an illness that was becoming all too easy to identify. It had stricken with frightening speed; not long afterward…

The unrest had spread into the streets, and it wasn’t just about the Blight anymore.

Cetina and Kathova wasted no time in reaching out to the Bearers via Communion to offer them guidance from their leaders and incite them to action.

SPRINGSTAR: THE ROOT OF THE ISSUE

Day by day, changes unfold that render the city increasingly dangerous...

ROOTS:

Vine-like roots have begun to thread the streets, creeping upon and over buildings, spreading outward from the Tree in Heliopolis. Over the next two weeks, they will continue to grow in size and become more troublesome, slowly blooming ice-like leaves that radiate a sickly glow.

• GROWTH: Contrary to the Blight’s normal behaviors, some people and things around clusters of vines or leaves can experience a burst of vitality, growth, and splendor as if transforming to beyond peak condition. In a normal citizen, this may result in an almost manic level of energy, reckless behaviors, and aggression. In objects, they become more durable and efficient, but dangerously so - for example, a stovetop cooks faster but burns uncontrollably hot. In plant life, this results in overgrowth that can overwhelm and choke nearby flora, objects, or even people. Then, they burn out an hour after exposure and immediately succumb to a dire state of Blighted.


• CHILL: The temperatures will continue to drop throughout the next two weeks. It will be coldest where vines have clustered and outright dangerously so near where flowers have budded or bloomed in great numbers. This will force some people from their homes.

TIME POCKETS:

In seemingly random parts of the city, areas referred to as ‘time pockets’ have populated. There is no way to identify a time pocket but to stumble into one.

• REGRESSION: NPC’s in these areas will appear to freeze in time once a Bearer has breached the pocket’s radius but appear normal from the outside. Time within has halted at the point the pocket manifested ( typically covering an area like a city street or inside a single large building that sees regular use ). Objects can be freely manipulated but will not fall if thrown, etc.
  • The pocket cannot be left until the Bearer has achieved their objective. Attempting to exit the way they entered, they’ll run into an unseen barrier that is painful to the touch, a sensation of frigidity that travels to their Shard.
  • Their goal will be to locate a past version of themselves hidden from immediate view. This past version of themselves can be from any point in their lives but must be from a moment when they felt extremely vulnerable, isolated, wounded, or fearful.
  • Once finding this past version, they will feel the compulsion to either find a way to reassure their past selves somehow or kill them. Whether it is the Bearer themselves who performs these acts or another Bearer in their company does it for them, as long as their past selves are pacified enough ( to player satisfaction ) or dead, they will gain immunity to the pocket and may leave. The immediate area will remain frozen, however, and the past version will be revealed to be made of roots that will shrivel and die.
  • Note: Bearers will be able to see other Bearer’s past selves, even after they have been freed. Whether the past reflections are capable of speech while functional is up to player discretion.

HIGHSTORM: THE ROOTS OF CHANGE

The snows continue to fall over the city, feeling brittle against your skin...

ROOTS:

Vine-like roots have begun to thread the streets, creeping upon and over buildings, spreading outward from the Great Tree in Yima’s manor. Over the next two weeks, they will continue to grow in size and become more troublesome, slowly blooming ice-like leaves that radiate a sickly glow.

• SACRIFICIAL: [ CW: self-harm ] Where the roots snake and gather throughout the city, NPC’s in several locations are falling victim to the quiet, slow pulse of the flowers and their buds. They will sit and stare at the flowers for hours, unblinkingly, as their body begins to succumb to the Blight. If they are disturbed in any way - a loud noise, an attempt to move their person, etc - they will calmly look up from their worship and crack off a piece of their brittle body before returning to their reverie.
• In order to save them, a pair (or more) of Bearers must sneak up on the NPC - one using a pacifying spell given by one of the faction leaders while the other crushes the flower. If the NPC is not pacified before the flower is crushed, they will become hysterical and the Blight will rapidly consume them, causing them to perish. If they are pacified and the flower is not crushed, the spell will wear off within ten seconds with the same result.

• CHILL: The temperatures will continue to drop throughout the next two weeks. It will be coldest where vines have clustered and outright dangerously so near where flowers have budded or bloomed in great numbers. This will force some people from their homes.

TIME POCKETS:

In seemingly random parts of the city, areas referred to as ‘time pockets’ have populated. There is no way to identify a time pocket but to stumble into one.

• REFLECTIONS: NPC’s in these pockets are moving in surreal blurs, pieces of them moving forward as others move backward, some changing as if time were rapidly passing as others remain frozen still. The Bearers’ surroundings are distorted as if reflecting multiple realities simultaneously.
  • Their goal will be to locate a tall standing mirror situated alone in the center of the time pocket’s radius. The Bearer who first touches their reflection ( henceforth called “mirror-Bearer” ) will cause the world inside the pocket to suddenly stop, reflecting a comforting environment they have fond or pleasant associations with. The mirror will be gone.
• Something or someone the mirror-Bearer highly values, deeply misses, or sees as imperative to their character, goals, or desires will be present. If they make contact with this object or person, the Time Pocket loops and sends them back to searching for the mirror - but they will have no memory of this occurring. Their partner, however, will recall everything.
• Both Bearers will be released if five loops occur without the mirror-Bearer being stopped from causing the loop or if the mirror-Bearer is stopped from reaching their goal for five minutes ( willingly or otherwise ). The longer they refuse to make contact with this object or person, the more tempting and dire the need becomes inside of them.
• Once the Bearers are released, the Time Pocket disappears. If they manage to avoid contact with the temptation inside the Pocket, the roots and flowers in this area will be withered and dying, buying the NPC’s and buildings in this location some time. Otherwise, they will be thriving and dangerously blooming.
• Note: the mirror will not respond to the non-mirror-Bearer once it has been touched the first time.

ENTREE-TING HELP

The Tree of Life is in danger, and you know it. Both Yima and Cyrus have directed all Bearers who might listen to increase visitation to the Tree and monitor it for signs of the Blight - of its leaves changing color, of any frostbitten bark, of its roots withering.

And then, during a moment in which you find your mind at ease, at rest... you dream, even if dreaming is unnatural for you. You dream of yourself sitting beneath the massive bows of the Tree's breadth, at peace. The perpetual dawn's glow warms your skin in a way that seeps into your bones, leaving you certain you are safe from harm. The Tree reaches out, and though it cannot speak to you in words, you feel it is trying to convey a message: one of urgency. One of plea.

But you cannot understand...

Soon, the branches of the Tree are reaching out to others. You cannot see them, but you know they're there; a spiritual tether connects your Shards together, bringing you all into a place of wordless unity. And once your fellows have been summoned, you know what you are here for.

You feel it rather than see it: some meager, barely-there brush of something cold in the warmth of the island's comfort. The Tree is already infected, and the clock is running down for all of you.

When you wake to yourself, a feeling of dread not entirely your own will chase you, and you will find a single violet leaf in your hand.

MISC NOTES

• Bearers start with immunity to the Blight. They will not succumb to the effects of the Blight even if they handle the vines and flowers directly without precautions or care.
• The above effects will occur in small clusters and are not yet spread city-wide during phase one. The escalation of frequency characters will come across problematic clusters or Time Pockets will be slow building.
• For context, it takes about a month from infection to death or dissolution for the average person or object to succumb to the Blight. By the 21st, it will be three days to a week.
• Bearers will be directed by Cetina or Kathova to make efforts to protect the civilians and investigate the manifesting changes around both cities. Both factions are working on their own methods to attempt to counteract the Blight, but neither has produced a failsafe solution.
• The roots will remain mostly outdoors, for the most part, these first two weeks.
• Tensions will slowly ramp up in Alenroux, and there are checkpoints for any non-PC visitors to screen for signs of infection.
• Player characters who die inside the Time Pockets are dead and need their Shards brought to the Tree of Life for revival.
• HAVE FUN!! ♥

CODING

Comments

[salvageable]

[ Nothing answers Ernesto at first, shuffling sounds immediately stopping at the call. But then after a few seconds, one of the cabinet doors slowly creaks open, and an eye tentatively peeks out from behind the door.

All the frozen people had spooked Dokja into one of his most well-used hiding spots, but hearing a voice now has him curious, dark eyes wide with apprehension as he looks up wordlessly at Ernesto, before his gaze drifts even higher to settle on the unfamiliar ears perched there. They get a reaction out of Dokja, his eyebrows lifting in surprise as more of his face appears so he can get a better look.

Like this, it's easy to tell he's just a child. A very battered looking child, as indicated by the bandages on his face and neck, as well as the stretch of bruises that poke out from behind their wrappings. But he doesn't seem to pay them any mind as he continues staring, only snapping back to himself a moment later when he realizes what it is he's doing. ]

... Hello...

[ His voice is quiet, uncertain, but he doesn't withdraw just yet. ]

[goldendeceiver]

[ Whatever Ernesto had been expecting to be lurking in that cabinet, a small, deeply troubled looking boy was not it. He'd been braced to grab the hilt of the sword at his hip, though his hand that had been hovering uncertainly over the air above it drops to his side, and those ears that the little Dokja is staring at perk up at the sight of the kid.

There's something incredibly familiar about him, but Ernesto is having trouble putting his finger down on exactly why that is.

That thought sits in the back of his mind as he offers the boy a small smile, and moves to slowly lower himself to his knees, so he's closer to the boy's height. There's probably a reason the kid is hiding in there, and it's not hard to take some guesses based on the bandages. Best not to make any sudden, scary moves that might frighten him back into the cabinet. ]

I didn't expect to find someone else out here.

[ His tail wags behind him, trying to really sell the friendly dog vibe. He's not sure what happened to this kid, but he wants to make it clear he doesn't intend harm. ]

But it's good to see I'm not alone.

[ Technically they both have the company of all the frozen people around them, but that's really stretching the definition of company. ]

[salvageable]

[ When Ernesto starts moving, Dokja's first reaction is to hide away back inside the cabinet, but he stops himself from further withdrawing at the sight of that smile, as well as no immediate attempt to come closer. Dokja hesitates, fingers clenched on the door, before they relax and he shuffles out a little bit more.

Curiosity lights up his eyes, and they grow even wider when he spots the wagging tail behind Ernesto. His initial thought had been that this was some sort of costume, but what kind of costume has moving parts like this? ]

U-um...

[ His voice falls quieter as he looks between the ears and the tail, and it's clear to see that his gaze is filled with wonder. It's like... something he'd only read about in one of his stories. Dokja fidgets, face growing a bit red out of shyness, but he can't seem to look away. ]

... Are those real?

[goldendeceiver]

[ The question catches Ernesto off guard. The look towards his ears earlier had seemed odd, but it's becoming clearer now that the ears and tail are a novelty to this boy. Stranger still considering how many people in both Highstorm and Springstar are walking around rocking more fur than Ernesto.

He'll table that for the time being, letting the surprise slip off his face and smiling wider as he twitches the ears on the top of his head as a demonstration. ]

As real as any other part of me.

[ Years and years of being the standard means the awe of others continues to be a novelty to Ernesto. He keeps his tone light as he tries to get a sense of just how new this boy might be to this wild situation. ]

Don't tell me you've never met a Perro before, Chamo?

[salvageable]

[ At the twitch of the ears, Dokja starts in surprise, but it's not the bad kind of surprise. Instead, delight flickers across his face before his expression becomes subdued once more, like he's used to carefully keeping his emotions in check.

He shakes his head at the question, then almost seems to catch himself. He should answer with words... ]

A... a Perro? No, never.

[ Not even in his storybooks, which this feels more and more like with the people frozen in the library and this strange man with his strange appearance being the only one capable of movement. ]

Um, where I'm from... most people look like m-me.

[goldendeceiver]

[ No real surprises there. Most Shard-bearers that Ernesto has run across seem to be lacking the fuzzy ears and tails that are so common where he's from, and it seems like most of them come from worlds where guys like him aren't running around.

At least the kid isn't freaking out, though the frozen people out there are probably more alarming than a guy with some extra appendages. ]

So you're not from around here either, huh?

[ Also, nice to have that particular suspicion confirmed for him. ]

Well you'll see some guys like me here and there in Kenos. How long have you been here?

[ Hopefully long enough to acclimate to the weirdness, but judging from the surprise at the ears and the jumpy nature he's thinking probably not. ]