kenoslogs | april event, phase one: seeds of unrest 🌱

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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Then maybe our little friend will have an idea as to how... Though I'm not sure where they went.

[They were either an illusion, or a slippery thing that wanted to stay hidden, because they didn't so much as make a peep even when Claude called. Under his breath, he says to Byleth:]

Want to split up and look around? It's not like they could've gone far, if they're stuck too.

I agree. Let's hunt separately.

[While their quarry had many hiding places in this frozen street, with both Claude and Byleth on the lookout, he doubted they could go far, or outpace them. He hadn't seen the figure that Claude had seen, but Byleth was already mentally lining up certain spells that could be snapped out in a moment's notice to subdue a hostile ambusher.]

Shout if you require aid.

Will do.

[Claude picks one side of the street to start examining the stalls so Byleth can take the opposite, combing through them one by one. The owners and customers are all eerily frozen, and don't so much as twitch a muscle when Claude gets close or steps behind the stall to look for his quarry. He's trying to move quietly, but he supposes that, by now, whoever they're looking for definitely doesn't want to be found.

Byleth, on the other hand, will have more luck if he listens carefully: the slightest creak of wood and rustle of fabric, leading to a cart with goods covered in cloth. Did the cloth look that shape a minute ago when they arrived...?]

[Byleth, of course, had been prowling like a wolf amongst the stalls, his steps near-silent and light as he paused to inspect each one. When he heard the creak and rustle he went still like a hound scenting a hare, his gaze locking onto the cart with a laser focus.

He stared... and the cloth twitched slightly.]

...

[It really was like watching a predator closing in on their prey. Byleth moved, slowly, soundlessly, his head slightly cocked as his muscles tensed in preparation for a chase or a battle. His shadow fell upon the cart, his mind had whetted a quick-fire spell to be launched in case of an ambush, and his hand reached out... closer, closer, until-

-he yanked back the cloth.]

[With time still stopped, the cloth is yanked back but stays strangely suspended in mid-air, as if Byleth's action were able to move it but the laws of gravity don't affect it. More pressingly, though, is the dark-haired child underneath the the cloth who leaps at Byleth with a shout like a war cry, a knife flashing in his hand--

It's just a feint, though, and he's already trying to use the element of surprise to jump down from the cart instead and get away. Claude, recognising that particular war cry, looks over and feels as frozen in place as the crowd around him as he sees the scene unfold. Is that...?]

[Fortunately, Byleth's brain categorised the incoming threat as "CHILD DO NOT HIT" before he throat-punched whatever it was that came shrieking out at him (though it was a very close thing). Instead, he turned the aborted attack into a restraining one, snatching the child out of the air as he tried to hop down from the cart before the little rascal's toes even touched the floor.

This wasn't the first child he's captured- no, that sounded bad even in his mind. He meant rescuing young hostages whose first instinct was to bolt when their bonds were cut. But it meant he caught the kid, snatched the knife out of his hand, and had him safely tucked under his arm like a sack of potatoes in a tight, unyielding grip in a swift and professional manner, his expression only faintly exasperated.]

Dangerous. [It was an almost scold, scrutinising the knife he'd confiscated.] I almost struck you.

[The boy is quick to try to wriggle out of his grasp, squirming, kicking, and even trying to find an angle to bite his arm. Unfortunately for him, Byleth's much too fast and efficient, and he hangs there, glaring up at him defiantly with sharp green eyes. A headscarf is wrapped around his unruly hair, and he has a still-bleeding busted lip and a large bruise blossoming on his cheek like a brutal, ugly flower. Some of his clothing is dirty and his skin cut and scraped through his clothes in places, like he'd been a scuffle not long before this one.

Or something a little more serious than a scuffle, given the knife he was carrying.]

Aren't you going to? That's why you're here, isn't it?

[The boy accuses, and resumes squirming again now that he's gotten a good look at Byleth's face. Claude moves closer yet still hangs back, knowing he needs to intervene, but hesitating. Even though this is himself from almost two decades ago, the wounds and the constant fear he felt seem just as fresh as if they were yesterday.]

[Byleth ignored the squirming and accusation, studying the child's damaged face for a long moment.]

...Claude.

[He turned towards where he could hear his friend creeping uncharacteristically, and with the knife in hand, pointed to the squirming, hissing creature he had fished out from the cart trapped in his grip.]

It's a child.

I can see that.

[Now that Claude gets a good look at the child's face, twisted in pained defiance and now glaring at him as he approaches, there's no doubting his hunch was right. Was this the doing of the Blight, affecting even the timestream itself, now that the Tree was infected...?]

Let me try talking to him. And-- uh, can you put the knife away?

[He can't imagine it's making the kid feel any less threatened.]

[Byleth looked from Claude to the knife in his hand, then back again, his expression not quite confused but its very close cousin. He didn't have anywhere to put the knife - it was bare steel, and he couldn't well tuck it in his corset or satchel.

So he took a few steps to the left, and dropped the knife down the nearby storm-drain, where it vanished into the dark depths forever... or tried to. The frozen time made the knife pause in mid-air, and with a disgruntled noise, he pushed it down with his hand low enough for him to then lift his foot and force it down the drain.]

Annoying. [Directed at no one in particular.] It's gone.

[The slow blink that both the boy and grown man do as Byleth struggles with the knife and the (lack of) laws of physics is almost comically identical. Once it's taken care of, and noticing this seems to have distracted the boy from his panic, Claude decides to take advantage of how baffled he is to approach and crouch down in front of him.]

Hey. Khalid, right?

[The boy narrows his eyes, wary, but gives a slow nod.]

I'm Claude. This is Byleth. He might've scared you a bit, but I promise he's actually a big softy, so you don't need to worry.

[He glances up at Byleth and offers him a Look, as if to say 'please go with it and don't mention anything like your body count'.]

[Message received loud and clear, Claude. Byleth nodded solemnly.]

Yes.

[...]

I only hurt adults in either self-defence or if I'm paid to.

[So, 'Khalid' is safe from him! Is what he's trying to say. Badly.]

april event, phase one: seeds of unrest 🌱

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