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

[bakedapple]

[ The girl's answer is encouraging, at least on the surface, and Link begins to stand as his smile broadens. But the sobering words that follow cut past it, striking down what small semblance of a plan it might've represented.

He studies her again, silent. She is... well, not to put too fine a point on it, but pretty inscrutable. He doesn't know what to make of her cold exterior or cryptic statements. Is she trying to comfort her double, or is she denying it? Turning away from what's being shown to her? He can't know for sure, but... it sorta feels like the latter.

Following her matter-of-fact approach, Link's expression hardens slightly, and when he speaks again, his tone is firm. ]

She's a child. Is that what she needs right now? Such harshness?

[ Maybe it that's what she actually got back then. But what about now? ]

[vallt]

[what?

no, really — what?

the response that she gets from this stranger is so baffling that it succeeds in shaking jyn out of anything that might be subduing her. for the moment, even, she forgets that the ghost is there, as her face does an entire journey in the span of a few seconds. her brows start raised, and then knit; her mouth opens, then closes, before it opens again.]

No one needs to hit an ice wall. [the tone of her voice is as if to say "come on, that's obvious."] That's what you'll get if you try to turn around. This isn't the first one of these I've found.

[emphatically, she turns on her heel, raising a hand to point, literally, right in front of them.]

You want to look for fuel? Walk forward.

[the ghost, standing off to the side, hangs her head, has her eyes focused on the ground. that's the moment jyn chooses to glance backward, and — she visibly swallows down a tightness in her throat.

clearly, this is all going so well, but she's still not conceding any point.]

[bakedapple]

[ ...oh. When she said "you can't go behind"... had she been talking about the pocket's barrier? Link is left feeling a bit sheepish; he's not terribly good at talking to people in the first place and especially not with distressed strangers whose private memories he's become an unwilling audience to. In either case, he seems completely unfazed by the procession of emotions that flash across her features, and his gaze softens into neutrality again.

Her former self, the girl, needs some degree of comfort and security before it will disappear. If she needs help doing that — and it seemed like she did, being as frozen in place as she was when Link happened upon her — then he'll help in whatever way he can. Refilling the lamp had just been a guess, a shot in the dark, and not an idea he was particularly committed to over anything else, but... it's as good as a first try than anything else would be, right? ]

You should come with us.

[ Link does not look to the woman as he steps to the girl's side again, gently offering another smile and his hand for her to take. ]

You know her a lot better than I do, after all.

[vallt]

[the girl, the shadow, the ghost stands to the side, uncertain; not fearful, because it's as though she already knows the uselessness of that. as though she knows that it's best to wait until the adults are done discussing serious things that she doesn't understand, like why she would need to hide for mama and papa's friend saw to come find her.

when link arrives back at the girl's side again, though, when she catches a glimpse of his outstretched hand, she smiles. it's as tentative and uncertain as the rest of her, but there nonetheless. shifting her lantern into one hand, she reaches back, and —

jyn, the present jyn, finally walks forward, coming to a stop just by the ghost's other side. her gaze actually lingers for a whole thirty seconds before faltering. before she's turned back to link, with a half-grumbled:]

Who said I wasn't coming?

[and is there a shift in the air, then? something... a little warmer? jyn isn't entirely certain — and she doesn't think the barriers are gone yet — but it may be a start.]

[bakedapple]

[ The girl's hand fits within Link's. Despite it being some manner of illusion on conjuration of these time pockets, it feels so real, so soft against his weathered palm, and with a strange warmth to it that, for some reason, Link wants to describe as "distant."

He closes his fingers around the back of the girl's knuckles and looks to the woman with the same scant smile. After another pause, he begins to walk down the road, hand-in-hand with the girl. And he can hear the woman coming with them, just as she'd said. ]

I haven't introduced myself, have I? [ He's addressing the girl. ] My name is Link. What's your name?

[vallt]

[the girl appears to visibly relax, with someone else taking her hand; any of the tension she'd still been holding in her tiny shoulders fades out, and she walks in step, unfraid. even without mama and papa, she's still determined to show that she's a good girl.

and of course, that means answering politely when an adult asks a question, so she does, without hesitation. "jyn."

behind them, the adult's steps skid to a halt for a moment, like she's been hit or stung. because she has, hasn't she? that's still a weapon she can be hurt by when it's thrown out into the open — the name she's spent years distancing herself from.

undeterred (likely because she hadn't heard it), the girl smiles at link again. "it's nice to meet you, link."]

[bakedapple]

[ The scuffle of the woman's interrupted pace reaches Link's ears, and causes his steps to slow momentarily, but once he hears he continuing on, he does as well. He continues to direct his attention to the girl instead. She's a sweet and polite child, as far as he can tell. That doesn't bode very well for the terse and cautious woman she became, but Link's purpose is not to ask probing questions into her past. He simply wants to do whatever is necessary to help her get out of this frozen place. ]

The pleasure is all mine, Jyn. So, your lamp... it's a rather nice one, if I may say so.

[ He gestures towards it with his free hand; the small triangle-shaped shard on the back glints golden despite the overcast light. ]

Do you know how it works? How to refill it? If we refill it, it won't go out.

[vallt]

[she's grown more accustomed, recently, to hearing her given name out of someone else's mouth. out of general draven's mouth, out of the alliance, it'd felt like a weapon being flung in her direction at best, and a violation at worst, but from allies, it'd felt safe. it'd felt like something she could start to inhabit again, maybe, if given the time.

(and she's had it here, in kenos, that time. jyn is something she can trust in cassian's voice — and in the space they carve out away from everything else, the idea of actually being jyn erso feels more within her reach than it has in a long time.)

that couldn't be further from true here, with that name in the voice of a total stranger. with things that she's locked inside the cave in her mind clear and visible to him. she hates this. she —

"thank you," her younger self says, as polite as her parents had ever taught her to be, and her smile, though still shy, is much less tentative.

— can't really hold it against him, can she? he hadn't asked to be stuck in this. the thought surfaces among all the rest. it takes hold, sticks, as she watches that stranger have such unfailing kindness to a girl who's just experienced the worst thing she's ever seen up to that point. a lump forms in her throat, tight and sticky.

a child doesn't know the answer to that question, not really, and all she can offer is: "if it doesn't go out, i won't be scared."

it's up to jyn, the adult one, to swallow it all down and step in — and she does, with a quick pace, until she's by their side once again.]

There's a space you open at the bottom, [she says, and though her voice is tight, it's not unkind.] You'll see a dispenser. Any oil should work.

[bakedapple]

[ The sudden increase in the woman's pace causes Link to glance back at her, not out of mistrust, but out of instinct. Practice. When you've spent as long as Link has traveling in dangerous wilderness, always needing to watch your back, the sound of hurried boots coming from behind sets off an ingrained process in his mind. Sword drawn, shield readied... But, he has enough sense to know she means no threat — the look of concern is gone before Link even realizes he's making that face, and instead, he watches her come back to their side with slightly raised eyebrows. ]

Dispenser on the bottom. Okay, then.

[ With one more lingering look at the adult Jyn, he looks out at the road in front of them, his eyes scanning the motionless shopfronts. ]

There's a hardware store ahead. I'm not sure if it sells lantern oil, but why don't we try that first?

[ It's a start. He squeezes the girl's hand firmly, reassuringly, and continues on. The store in question is less than a block away.

It seems at first that the trio might make it all the way there in complete silence, but after a minute, Link murmurs, eyes forward. ]

I saw one too. A phantom.

I'm sorry for... seeing yours.