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

[diversionist]

[ kay-two-es-oh, the droid corrects, looking to akua. i am a KX-series security droid that was reprogrammed to serve the rebellion. he nods to cassian, saying, reprogrammed by him, actually.

which is already more than cassian really wants anyone around here knowing about him, but what can he do about that now? ]

A droid, [ he cuts in, turning to akua, ] is a —

[ i was coming to that, kay interrupts. i am an artificial intelligence programmed into a mechanical body to perform functions of use to organics like yourself. ]

[wolof]

[ Akua has not had many opportunities where she felt out of her depth. Oh no, she was a genius, one of the finest minds in Calernia. She had done the impossible, multiple times. She had rendered creation her plaything, and shaped it to her will. More than once had she done that, and yet, looking at this thing, hearing these words? Mechanical Body? Artificial Intelligence?

She felt like Catherine, when she tried to explain the principles of sorcery. ]

I'm going to get a red letter.

[ She muttered to herself, in lieu of anything else. It was impossible in Kenos, but if she was to recreate Calernia and Creation itself, she would get a red letter when she returned, for merely seeing this thing. That was a certainty. ]

I see. [ She finally said, and looked between the two of them. ] Such as security, then? What are you guarding here?

[diversionist]

[ cassian slants a curious look at akua at the mention of a red letter, but she doesn't elaborate and he doesn't ask. instead, she asks her question, and the droid simply looks at cassian. this is, in truth, as much demurral as answer. kay has been reprogrammed to be dedicated to the rebellion, but he chose to prioritize cassian over any other sentient (human or otherwise) that's part of it.

aloud, cassian cuts in, ]

I think the better question is what he's doing here at all.

[ rude, kay-tu comments. and also incorrect. the better question is what the two of you are doing here.

cassian's eyebrows draw together and, after a moment, he nods affirmation. he and akua should be in highstorm, shouldn't they? the moon of yavin doesn't exist here, maybe doesn't exist anywhere. kay is...kay is dead, he ruthlessly reminds himself, but so is he. one thing being here is less likely than the other. ]

[wolof]

I believe that can be answered by the mirror --

[ Though, as she turned her head, she frowned. It was gone.

Which meant that her fate to escape rested on this person. Perfect. A complete stranger, and likely one that knew this world inside and out, while she... had never even heard of a droid. I checked. My tag history. ]

I think this will be your show, I'm afraid. Whatever you and... your friend are here for, it is the construction of this bubble, which means that it is your trial to pass, not mine.

[ And it was a trial, certainly. It could be nothing else. ]

1/2

[diversionist]

[ what mirror? kay-tu asks. i don't see any mirrors. are you sure you aren't making that up? then he turns to cassian. are you sure she isn't making that up? ]

I'm sure,

[ cassian says, waving a hand dismissively as he turns to where the mirror had been as well. it is gone, and that's — strange. he should've noticed it earlier, never mind his surprise at seeing the base at yavin or kay-tu against the odds. his frown deepens at the word trial; could this really be some kind of test? is that any less likely than any other option? ]

I don't understand.

[ he admits to akua, then turns to look back at kay with a furrowed brow. the droid takes a couple of steps closer, as if looking for the mirror himself, and on reflex he reaches out to idly pat one of the droid's "arms" — ]

[diversionist]

[ akua is standing in front of a mirror in a reality bubble in highstorm. the ancient temple is gone. the droid is gone. cassian is approaching, saying, ]

I've seen something like this in Springstar, but there weren't any mirrors.

[wolof]

[ As he approached, she whirled to face him, her eyes searching. Did he -- ]

No. There weren't.

[ She said, a change from the first time they'd spoken. She looked back at the mirror, her eyebrows knitted in thought, before she threw caution to the wind, and decided that the only way that she would find out anything about this situation, was to do something about it. Her fingers moved to the mirror, and she drug her fingers across it, as if she was trying to press her fingers through, almost.

She turned to look at Cassian, and the rest of the world around her.

Nothing. ]

Perhaps there is a trick to it? [ A beat. ] Why don't you try?

[ He'd touched it before? Perhaps it was like a magic item, that had chosen a user? ]

[diversionist]

[ is it a change from how she'd answered? if cassian is aware of that, it doesn't show. he comes to a stop not far from the mirror or akua, frowning at their reflections staring back at them. nothing seems out of the ordinary.

nothing does when she touches it, either. he watches, curiously, but there's no response. ]

I don't know what I could do that you couldn't, [ he says, offering her a faint smile. but he obliges, reaching out and pressing his fingertips against the cool glass.

and, immediately, the glass vanishes. he blinks in surprise, even as the rebel base at yavin comes into focus: tall, ancient stone walls, ceilings so high up as to be shadowed, natural light coming through the doors and windows. the air is heavy with humidity and the smells of green, growing things. a droid, tall and dark, canting its 'head' as it sees the two of them.

who's she? ]

[wolof]

[ Interesting.

Akua looked from Cassian, to Kay-Tuesso, to the rest of the building again. She would not interfere too much, lest she find that the entirety of this was ruined by her interference. They had apparently just... looped, though she thought that was only the sort of thing the Titanomachy could do, but... well. She was continuously surprised by the power and capabilities of those here. She should not be so shocked that there were new shows of power, and that they could surprise even her. ]

I am Akua Sahelian. [ She said, instead of giving Cassian time. Would this happen again? Was there an answer they were supposed to find? ] You are...his friend?

[diversionist]

[ cassian pales, says, ]

Kay?

[ — even as akua answers the droid. even as he sees the droid with his own eyes. how can this be possible? kay is one of so many cassian led to scarif with jyn, led to their deaths. kay, who'd been his friend through a lot. kay, the one who'd told them, you can still send the plans to the fleet, who'd said goodbye, who'd sacrificed himself while they — while cassian — had been helpless to do anything but listen.

of course i'm his friend, kay says now, dismissively. i know him better than anyone. ]

[wolof]

Do you?

[ She asked, and turned back to Cassian to offer him a slow, sharp smile. ] I have heard of your kind. Of droids.

[ Literally ten minutes ago. ] We are now in a new and strange predicament. What could your friend do for us?

[ She says, as if she thinks he would go Meridian -- or perhaps, she is fishing for weaknesses. It's hard to tell. ]

[diversionist]

[ kay just looks at akua for a long moment.

and then he looks at cassian, and asks, does she think i'm stupid?

cassian, looking between the droid and this woman, has to suppress a smile. ]

I don't know her well enough to say. [ then, wry, ] But she is right. We are in a strange situation, and we don't know how to get out of it.

[wolof]

You know, he hasn't even introduced himself to me.

[ She confided in Kay Tuesso, and shook her head. ]

So perhaps I'm merely looking for a perspective that will offer me actionable information, to come up with a plan.

Unless you want to be stuck here.

[ She shrugged, and looked around, as if there was something more to be gleaned from this space. ]

Perhaps, then, one of you can tell me of where we are? What we're doing here?

[diversionist]

My name is Melshi.

[ cassian cuts in, before kay can answer her, and the droid merely glances his way before looking back to akua. thankfully, he doesn't say anything at all; even if he'd tried to back up cassian's lie, he probably would've done more harm than good.

instead, kay answers, we are at the rebel base on yavin 4, the fourth moon orbiting yavin prime. are you familiar with the yavin system?

cassian, meanwhile, frowns. not for what akua is beginning to hear about him, but he feels a — pull. he twitches a hand in kay's direction, then makes himself put it down. ]

[wolof]

[ Yavin... system? Akua blinked once, twice, three times. ]

There is no place in Creation called that. [ Which probably wasn't helpful. ]

You are at a rebel base? What are you even rebelling from?

[ She tipped her head toward "Melshi", her eyebrows knit together. Freedom Fighters, ugh. ]

[diversionist]

[ maybe not in your galaxy, k-2so says primly.

cassian starts slightly at the question, distracted as he'd become by the growing need to reach out to the droid, clear his throat before answering. uncharacteristic cracks in his composure. ]

The Empire. [ it's not a secret, really, and if akua already knows this much then a small admission won't do much more harm. there's a time and place for caginess. ] They control much of the galaxy.

[ without his noticing, nearly, his hand drifts towards the droid again... ]

[wolof]

[ The Empire, he says, and something nags at the back of her mind. A thread that felt familiar enough that she wanted to tug at it, and unravel the memory. She would, later, think on it, and what it meant. Think on the memory that came to mind, of an Empire and Galaxies.

But not now. She looked to Melshi, her head tipped, eyebrows knitted, curious. ]

Just The Empire? [ She asks, with a laugh. ] They could at least choose something with a bit more flair, could they not? Even we Praesi chose a much better name.

[ To be fair, they were just the Dread Empire of Praes -- different, than just the empire. ]