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Entry tags:
- arcane: vander,
- arknights: gavial,
- bastard!!: dark schneider,
- black butler: sieglinde sullivan,
- expanse (the): amos burton,
- fate/: quetzalcoatl,
- fate/: rin tohsaka,
- fire emblem: claude von riegan,
- genshin impact: tartaglia (childe),
- genshin impact: zhongli,
- granblue fantasy: eustace,
- magnus archives (the): the archivist,
- orv: dokja kim,
- star wars: cassian andor,
- star wars: jyn erso,
- trigun maximum: vash the stampede
The Seeds of Unrest, Phase Two 🌱
UPROOTED
Time has not been kind thus far, and the future will be no kinder.
The slow passage of days to weeks has seen both cities increasingly ravaged by the untamed growth of the enlarging roots. Their size is enough to uproot buildings by their foundations, if not bisect them entirely where they push through unfettered. In the worst-hit areas, entire blocks are left abandoned - if even standing at all, displacing families and leaving businesses in ruins.
Cetina and Kathova have been in near constant contact with Bearers via Communion, feeding them information about which areas to focus their lifesaving efforts. Yima’s Manor and the Seat of the Tribune - despite their closeness to the Trees - have been fortified by your leaders and act as a base of operations for each respective faction. You will be able to return to either to find sanctuary from the chaos beyond, but the innumerable civilians are not so lucky.
Bearers are tasked with rescue and recovery efforts and requested to assist hands on the ground with taking refugees to temporary shelters. Survivors must be dug out of the debris. Those who are capable of healing will be enlisted to assist at hospitals and triage centers. Supplies must be gathered and harvested from areas that are collapsed and too dangerous for civilians to navigate. If you are feeling generous, you can go on search and rescue missions, as many people are considered missing in both Highstorm and Springstar. Some areas are completely cut off to regular foot traffic by the massive, winding roots bearing countless Blight-blooms. Citizens are succumbing to the Blight flower’s effects persistent from phase one with more and more frequency.
While both cities slowly succumb to a deepening catastrophe, the situation worsens.
The slow passage of days to weeks has seen both cities increasingly ravaged by the untamed growth of the enlarging roots. Their size is enough to uproot buildings by their foundations, if not bisect them entirely where they push through unfettered. In the worst-hit areas, entire blocks are left abandoned - if even standing at all, displacing families and leaving businesses in ruins.
Cetina and Kathova have been in near constant contact with Bearers via Communion, feeding them information about which areas to focus their lifesaving efforts. Yima’s Manor and the Seat of the Tribune - despite their closeness to the Trees - have been fortified by your leaders and act as a base of operations for each respective faction. You will be able to return to either to find sanctuary from the chaos beyond, but the innumerable civilians are not so lucky.
Bearers are tasked with rescue and recovery efforts and requested to assist hands on the ground with taking refugees to temporary shelters. Survivors must be dug out of the debris. Those who are capable of healing will be enlisted to assist at hospitals and triage centers. Supplies must be gathered and harvested from areas that are collapsed and too dangerous for civilians to navigate. If you are feeling generous, you can go on search and rescue missions, as many people are considered missing in both Highstorm and Springstar. Some areas are completely cut off to regular foot traffic by the massive, winding roots bearing countless Blight-blooms. Citizens are succumbing to the Blight flower’s effects persistent from phase one with more and more frequency.
While both cities slowly succumb to a deepening catastrophe, the situation worsens.
STIRRING STORMS
As the days pass, inexplicable and unnatural weather occurrences will randomly plague both cities. They can last as long as a full day or as little as an hour before dissolving entirely.- Flurries: this snow is tainted by the Blight, making the snowfall look like ash. Any organic matter it touches will be affected by reopening wounds, re-infection of illnesses, or re-experiencing injuries that may have healed over years ago.
- Thunderstorms: these storms carry a frigid rainfall and heavy cloud cover, making already difficult-to-navigate disaster zones harder to clear. As each thunder bellow crashes overhead, you might swear you hear a familiar voice reaching out to you in the fading rumble… one that sends a message - either from the future or past.
- Fog: dense clouds of thick, freezing fog will roll in randomly, making visibility even more precarious. In your search for survivors - or your companions, you may find yourself coming face to face with someone else, instead: a version of yourself (or a companion) from another timeline. You may also hear your own voice calling out to you from within the fog, attempting to beckon you further into the mist.
- General Note: Exposure to any of the above weather patterns will increase your Blight infection.
THE BLIGHT COMES FOR ALL
As if it were not enough to see the cities that have become your salvation at the end of the Timestream falling to collapse and ruin, the Bearers will slowly begin to realize their previous immunity to the Blight is eroding. They will begin to show symptoms of infection that increase into May’s event. ( For more information on the effects of the Blight and purification methods, please see the OOC Summary. )
Now that their last bastion - the Bearers - are just as much in harm’s way as everyone else, the populous’s efforts to formulate a temporary stop-gap solution are being rushed to completion. Time is not on anyone’s side. They will continue to work with those who have been kind enough to volunteer their resources and brilliant minds - collecting materials and attempting to figure out a way to avert their otherwise inevitable destiny.
🌙 YIMA will stress for all Zenite Bearers to prioritize their well-being and to avoid unnecessary exposure, to manage their symptoms as much as possible. They must fight for their own survival to bring in the birth of a new universe - and their lives are too precious to risk. Beyond that, she asks them to save what they can of their people and their most critical structures with the understanding that hard choices may be necessary.
🌞 CYRUS will implore all Meridian Bearers to prioritize the general population's lives and turn their efforts to save as much of Springstar as they can. He will note that Bearers have ways to help keep one another from suffering too much contagion and to coordinate their usages appropriately, to keep one another safe, and watch their backs.
Now that their last bastion - the Bearers - are just as much in harm’s way as everyone else, the populous’s efforts to formulate a temporary stop-gap solution are being rushed to completion. Time is not on anyone’s side. They will continue to work with those who have been kind enough to volunteer their resources and brilliant minds - collecting materials and attempting to figure out a way to avert their otherwise inevitable destiny.
ORDERS
Orders from your leaders will come as soon as infections among the Bearers have been confirmed.🌙 YIMA will stress for all Zenite Bearers to prioritize their well-being and to avoid unnecessary exposure, to manage their symptoms as much as possible. They must fight for their own survival to bring in the birth of a new universe - and their lives are too precious to risk. Beyond that, she asks them to save what they can of their people and their most critical structures with the understanding that hard choices may be necessary.
🌞 CYRUS will implore all Meridian Bearers to prioritize the general population's lives and turn their efforts to save as much of Springstar as they can. He will note that Bearers have ways to help keep one another from suffering too much contagion and to coordinate their usages appropriately, to keep one another safe, and watch their backs.
ANOTHER EN-TREE-TY
The Tree of Life continues to sicken, yet - thankfully - the progression of the Blight is slow. Still, Bearers will find themselves occasionally compelled to take a moment to sit beneath its boughs and vibrant leaves, even as some begin to show signs of discoloration and rot. Any characters who sit with the Tree with the purple leaf they found on their person after phase one will find it warming to the touch, its veins laced with gold. This effect will be even more effective if taken into the cavernous roots beneath the Tree! While this may fill you with a temporary sense of calm, it doesn't seem to have any other effects... yet still, you are compelled, if not curious.
The Tree has offered you this gift for a reason. Perhaps you will find its use before long.
...As long as you - and Kenos - survive long enough to discover it.
The Tree has offered you this gift for a reason. Perhaps you will find its use before long.
...As long as you - and Kenos - survive long enough to discover it.
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Vash comes a bit closer before crouching at Melshi's side; they are now sizing one another up, as men do (??). thankfully, despite bearing 230948092834 scars, Vash seems to be hanging in there, not outwardly worse for wear. ]
Yeah. They sedated our guy, said they'll keep him under for a while. People've been losing it all over the place...
[ ...he is worried, but he's doing his best to put that aside. one crisis at a time. ]
How you holding up?
[ 'because you look terrible' is, very kindly, left unsaid. ]
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[ is more a response to news of the survival of the man he tried to murder twice than how he's holding up, but could, you know, be some of both. he's holding up, and that's about as good as it gets right now. and at least vash seems to be doing alright, so much the better. if they were both doing poorly, the situation would be much worse. ]
We should get out of the weather. [ but, ] I'll need help.
[ is pretty much the understatement of the century. should vash go to help him up, he'll find that cassian makes a sincere effort — all gritted teeth and white knuckled and uncomplaining — but can't seem to support his own weight. his legs shake violently, move awkwardly, and he flinches away from touch too near his midsection. he might reflect, later, that it makes some kind of sense: that the snow reopened some of his most recent wounds. it's not random, much as he'd much rather be reliving one of a thousand old blaster burns right about now. ]
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Chest or back?
[ is it front-loaded? back? or is Melshi in the super fun category of All-Arounder where both sides are fucked? either way, moving will hurt - it's just a matter of how much and if they can find a way to transport him without, say... him passing out. ]
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[ admitted after a moment. it's not the whole story, but the worst; he'd gone down hard after getting shot in the data vault, hit a beam with his back before landing on his side. all a blur in his memory now, but he remembers enough to say. ]
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Sorry to say, but I'm not one of those real helpful types who can do [ he makes wiggly... finger... gestures? ] that healing magic stuff. We're gonna have to get you back to the med tents. You think you can hold out if I piggyback you...?
[ Vash thinks about making a wisecrack about how he'll be a real smooth ride or something, but 'Melshi's probably not in the mood for... you know. too much in the way of jesting, seeing as how the pinched pain in his eyes seems to be getting worse by the second rather than more tolerable. ]
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I would've expected you to take the opportunity to learn. It seems up your alley.
[ he says, to vash the stampede. in fairness he doesn't even know a single syllable of that name so how could he possibly know. but he nods at the question. it's as good a solution as any; he certainly isn't going anywhere by himself any time soon. can he hold out is less important a question than will he. what other option is there? he'd climbed to the communications dish on scarif hurt this badly and worse, and that'd been without help. it was what needed to be done.
on the topic, as they move so that he can get on vash's back, he asks, ]
Have you taken anyone's Shard back to the tree before?
[ does vash know to like, do that. just in case. his voice is tight, but no tighter than it's been since vash came back for him. the question is asked casually, maybe surprisingly so. it's snowing; this world is called kenos; if he dies, this is what you do with his shard. simple facts. ]
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Vash is, luckily, almost entirely covered with a back turtleneck shirt and trousers beneath his coat, and gloves on to boot; he'll be fine. ]
You keep talking like that and I'm gonna shove my whole boot in your mouth. Why'd you gotta bring it up now?! You're not kicking it, so don't go there.
[ yes, he clearly knows what it means to bring a Shard to the Tree if that's any consolation - even if he hasn't done it personally. and... is very intent on not having to anytime soon, either. he shoots Melshi a look that says as much before he's helping Mr. Pessimistic lean his weight into Vash's back.
it's probably going to hurt like hell when he stands up. yeah. like, a lot. ]
Up on the count of three; ready? One, two--
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cassian doesn't have reason to expect it to get that far. after all: his wounds did not, strictly speaking, kill him the first time around.
one, two, three — it does hurt like hell when vash stands, a sharp sound slipping past even his tight jaw, hands at vash's front reflexively clenching into fists. he presses his forehead into vash's back for a long, long moment; doesn't raise his head until they start moving, and the inevitable jostling from walking becomes — repetitive. bearable, if nothing else.
and it's only after that, that he finally says, ]
So it wasn't just him you were determined to save. [ the young man; the blighted man. ] What is it, everyone?
[ how quickly vash had turned from DON'T KILL ANYONE to DON'T TALK ABOUT DYING, for all ways he's been irritated with cassian this entire interaction. ]
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anyway,
Mr. Stampede sets a careful pace, trying not to jostle 'Melshi' as much as he can manage. he'll keep a close eye on Melshi's vitals, ensuring nothing gets too erratic or out of control as they go. ]
I guess you could say this is but one small step on my journey toward world peace...
[ why did he say that all deep-voiced ]
Well, worlds peace. I was kinda working on my own, but now my never-ending trek through the unforgiving landscape of men's hearts has been expanded. [ ... ] Without my permission.
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[ it sounds strange on his tongue. as well it might, from a man who has never known true peace. his heart thumps hard, but steadily. his breathing doesn't ease, but it doesn't worsen either.
he wonders if he can imagine a peaceful world, a peaceful galaxy. he wonders if he can guess what such a thing would look like to this man. slots this consideration together with what he's seen of vash so far.
of course, vash could simply be lying, be joking. but it's something to think about besides the jolts of pain, besides his failing body. he'd been ready for his death on scarif, with jyn by his side. he'd prefer not to dissipate here and now with a near stranger, however temporary it may be. ]
You'll be working a while.
[ he finally concludes, voice flat. ]
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[ the answer comes with a smile over Vash's shoulder while he sneaks a look at 'Melshi,' continuing toward their destination; it has a strange energy behind it. it seems both undeniably happy and incorrigibly sad at once. ]
But haven't you heard that saying: 'it's not about the destination, it's about the journey?' I'm moving ever onward to complete my quest and seeing where the winds take me...
[ lordt i hope that npc wakes up and dropkicks him in the face at the med tents ]
You look like you could use some peace in your life. Kinda a shame about the whole Blight thing; an apartment with a view like yours? Mighty fine living, good a start as any.
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he doesn't bother paying much attention to the ramble about saying, or quests, let alone responding to that piece of silliness. but he does huff out a sound, wry and bitter and humorless, as vash returns to the question of peace. he remembers a similar sentiment he'd been told once, not so long before he joined the rebellion formally. ]
Some people aren't meant for peace.
[ he hadn't fought the empire because he expected to see its end in his lifetime. he hadn't fought the empire to create a better life for himself. so that someone else can taste freedom — that's all. a worthy cause to live for, to die for. ]
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Why do you say that?
[ knowing the 'why' is the thing, right? the most important thing. ]
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because his life never, not for a moment, allowed him the luxury. not the republic's encroachment on kenari nor the empire's toxic spill through the galaxy. because he doesn't deserve peace. he'd forfeited the right, if he ever had it, a long time ago. no one with hands as filthy as his should ever have that, if there's fairness in the universe. he'd come close once, but his arrival in kenos had snatched that away. ]
We aren't all so lucky as to be born in peaceful times.
[ sharp words, but not said without a sense of commiseration. he's seen the scars vash is hiding under that turtleneck, under that idiot's demeanor. he isn't under any illusions that vash simply has never known hardship. even through the heat haze of pain, he's clear on this much. ]
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but - naturally, and predictably for a guy who never seems to shut up - he doesn't let the lull last overlong. ]
Doesn't mean times won't change. Can't change. You think?
[ or does Melshi believe there is no hope of peace in his lifetime - even if it were a 'second' one in Kenos? ]
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[ of course he does think. hasn't that very hope guided the last several years of his life? hasn't that hope been his guiding motivation to wake every morning, to do everything he's done? rebellions are built on hope, he'd told jyn once. ]
But someone has to pay the cost.
[ slips out, wearily. he spent a long time paying in others' blood before his own, because there isn't fairness in the universe. ]
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familiar enough that they render him once again quiet for another few footsteps before Vash fidgets his grip on 'Melshi' - just a tiny shift of his hands gripping the underside of his knees. ]
Yeah.
[ it isn't a point he can argue. peace doesn't come free. it isn't easy. people die in its pursuit. he knows, however much he's been accused of being blind, deaf, and dumb to the reality of things many, many times over the course of his life.
even so... ]
Is that why you're out here?
[ helping when he is under no obligation to do so.
someone 'paying the cost,' is it. ]
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Maybe you didn't notice, but there's a crisis going on.
[ and what else should he do in the face of that? turn a blind eye? no, of course not. ]
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[ the answer, though - that tells Vash all he needs to know, because there are people who aren't compelled to help these people. there are people - even Bearers - who are using their suffering for their own gain. but that isn't an option in 'Melshi's' book, not a blip on his radar.
don't mind him as he casually files more evidence in the Nice Guy Cassian drawer. it's okay; he doesn't have to admit it. Vash's got his number.
:) ]
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because he would, has, done terrible things. because if this were his galaxy and this were his war, if he'd been given orders to leave these people to their fates — or worse — to serve the rebellion, he would've done it. paying the price for a brighter future. he doesn't pretend that showing himself the same ruthlessness he shows others makes him a better person.
he simply doesn't get anything out of doing nothing while the locals suffer. he doesn't lose anything by helping them that he hasn't already lost. even his newly reopened wounds don't make him regret coming out to help. they serve as a reminder of how little he has to lose. ]
Try not, [ with a faint lilt of humor, despite everything, ] to forget again.
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No promises. Brain's like a sieve and what goes in must come out-- wait, that's not the right one.
[ ... ]
Hey, Melshi.
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[ he's starting to get drowsy, in truth, but doesn't dare close his eyes lest he really does need his shard taken back to the tree. who knows if vash wouldn't slip and drop him into an ocean on accident, or some equally ridiculous mishap. better that he keeps talking, then. ]
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[ 'what is he talking about' that's a fair question
luckily he continues a second later to clarify! helpful, ]
It's a lot for one person to take, paying that price you were talking about all alone. It isn't so bad if you go it with a friend.
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he isn't going it alone, is he? not with jyn here. but he can imagine that vash would say the same even if he knew that. he can imagine vash would say the same even if he knew a lot of things. or maybe he wouldn't; only time will tell. ]
When I find a friend, [ he finally says, ] maybe I'll give it a try.
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Cold, Melshi, reaaaal cold.
[ he complains, but he's smiling like he's pleased. 'cause he didn't get shot down or told some pessimistic, depressing bit in return, and that...
hey, that means there's hope. (or Melshi is placating him. but he isn't going to think about that option thank you very much) ]
Hey; we're almost there. Just another minute or two.
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