the boy is back in town [diplomanon conclusion]

[beleos]

Who: Manon, the Shard-Bearers, and special surprise guest(s)!
What: Manon has been revived, and there are questions to be asked
Where: The Tree of Life
When: March 3rd

MANON'S REVIVAL

A few days prior, Manon’s Shard had been planted at the Tree of Life (Tier 2 Meridian and/or those involved with the purification process would know it was by the Tribune himself), and as promised, his revival is providing a neutral ground in which to meet and talk to the man. The Meridian involved in purifying him have been given some basic clothing for Manon, including an eyepatch since just like every other Shard-Bearer who has suffered dissipation, he’ll be hatching from a cocoon the tree weaves. It’s at least a little dignity to be given as a belated “apology” for his revival being a spectacle.

Indeed, when he frees himself from the cocoon, he won’t be ready to be questioned. He’s weak and shaky on his feet, but he’s still rather quick to collect himself and get dressed. Surprisingly, with no apparent shame over being that spectacle!

Some people have “met” Manon already by Communing with his Shard, but otherwise, this is the first that most will be able to see the man causing all of this fuss. He’s short with rust-colored hair and one eye completely covered by the eyepatch he’d been given. He doesn’t exactly seem pleased to be here, though. He looks like he’d much rather be anywhere else. But he’s eventually ready to talk. Best to get this over with.

INTERRUPTIONS

People are given their chances to question Manon and ask him whatever they wish, but not for long.

Quite suddenly and with no more preamble than a strange, crackling feeling throughout everyone’s Shards, a portal suddenly opens behind all of them. First, out steps a small, slight looking girl whose eyes immediately fall on Manon. But a much larger, more monstrous figure steps out behind her with odd, misshapen hands plodding onto the ground and gripping the roots.

A massive creature plods out, and the flowers that surround the skull ripple as if alive. Both the petals of the flower and the very human hair that drift on the creature’s neck are lavender. A very specific shade of it, in fact. And it howls in a way that would be deafening, were it heard with your ears. No, this scream tears through your very Shards in a way that’s almost paralyzing, and as the portal starts to close, other, smaller creatures skitter out along the larger ones’ feet. It seems someone doesn’t want Manon to talk at all.

And for one of the Shard-Bearers among you, that scream digs deeper. Like a poison into their Shard, it pulls out something vicious, something feral, something they had long wished was left behind—But the past isn't always the past.

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OOC NOTES

This portion of the log is divided into four portions because the majority are limited for the mods’ sake. With the exception of number four (which is not limited), you may only sign up for one of these sections or to chase Manon (see next section) because these are all taking place essentially simultaneously.

1. Vander ; Vander (exhound, played by Thirteen) has entered a berserker state and will attack friend and foe without being able to solidly distinguish between the two. Vander can be injured (even severely), but this thread will end with Vander’s capture by Aetós. You can find this toplevel here.
   
   
2. The Girl (Adelfoúla) ; This is a NPC who will be played by Prince, and is limited to a group of no more than three characters. This thread will end with Adelfoúla’s capture since she will be interrogated to find and rescue Vander. You can find this toplevel here.
   
   
3. The Creature (Aeternae) ; Is limited to a group of no more than three characters, but will be controlled by these players a la a PvE encounter. The Creature is able to attack with psychic powers (similar to the Force in Star Wars or biotic powers in Mass Effect) and is otherwise very large (Hayame-sized the size of a very large horse) and strong, but not overly so. It will regenerate from all attacks unless the skull is smashed, and it can close the petals of the flower to temporarily protect itself. You can find this toplevel here.
   
   All characters that participate in this thread will also be given psychic information about what happened to create the creature, so comment here to note your participation so I can give you that info! The Creature will also subject everyone present to opt-in effects, which are not limited to only the thread participants.
   
   
4. Smaller Creatures ; Are not limited encounters, and are controlled by the players a la a PvE encounter. These are smaller, more easily killed monsters that are able to use minor psychic attacks as well as poison when someone is clawed or bitten if you want to go a combat route or can cause more temporary versions of the Aeternae's effects as listed. You can also make up your own style of lil' skullbeast! This is free for players to get creative with and create a fun encounter however you see fit. All characters that participate in this kind of thread will also be given psychic information about what happened to create the creature, so comment here to note your participation so I can give you that info! In addition, please place all threads to engage the smaller creatures here.

GIVING CHASE

As soon as the chaos breaks out, the first to take advantage is… Manon. Though weakened from just hatching from the Tree of Life, Manon immediately runs into the labyrinthine maze of roots that make up the Tree of Life. He’s not so honorable as to stay and fight, and this may be his only chance to actually escape. However, it does also leave him without the protection he was promised…

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OOC NOTES

This section is limited to a maximum of three characters from each faction, and they will not be able to participate in the previous section. Manon is fleeing immediately, so giving chase means that these characters similarly will not be sticking around to witness what happens.

We encourage discussion of which characters will be participating in this portion of the post in the associated Discord Thread for this plot since the factional makeup of this team is likely very tied to Manon’s fate. As Loremasters, we’re truly cool with whatever, so we encourage players discuss how to make a satisfying narrative and future plot opportunities out of Manon’s overall fate rather than trying to “win” the encounter. Also to note, Manon is weakened, but will be attacking anyone that attacks him assuming (probably correctly) that they’re trying to kill him. There is a risk of dissipation in this encounter!

If a conclusion to this thread is not reached by Wednesday, March 8th, Christy will reach out to all thread participants, and we’ll come to an OOC conclusion for Manon’s overall fate to prepare for the Setting Updates that Friday! We can obviously continue to thread it, though! The toplevel for this chase can be found here.

CODING

Comments

[kenosnpcs]

[ It’s then that they’ll all feel it. There’s that strange, crackling feeling in their Shards again, an impression of teal light, but in that moment, time simply stops the moment after the portal whorls into existence.

Aetós steps out with a huff of breath like they’re tired, then tuck a pocket watch back into the folds of their robes. They look around at the chaos and murmur a noise that sounds distinctly pleased, though there’s no one to hear it now. It’s not ideal how all of this played out with Manon… But it could be valuable otherwise, and that’s why they’d caused a distraction more than anything else. Manon was a completed project. New material was needed.

So, they look around and appraise the entire group fighting against Vander. They’re each appraised in turn, and a silver hand is placed over their Shard, wherever it may be. This is what they’ll remember when time restarts. But whatever the masked figure is evaluating isn’t clear. Finally, they turn back to Vander, caught mid-swing and sigh. ]

I was hoping it wouldn’t be the biggest one.

[ Vander has nearly a foot on them, after all, and nothing about Aetós’s frame implies the strength needed to carry him. So, it takes a little magic. ]

Periorízo.

[ Threads of teal light shoot from their fingertips to wrap around Vander, and similarly, this is where he’ll begin to have memories of what’s done to him once time restarts. The light crackles against his skin oddly, but it’s not painful. It’s just an odd sensation as Vander suddenly begins to… shrink. As if magical threads were compressing him, he’s quickly, painlessly reduced to half of his size. If he took the time to look through the entire spellbook granted to pursue at Tier 2, he might even recognize this spell as Enlarge/Reduce. However, interestingly, the way Aetós’s shoulders sag, it doesn’t seem like it’s an easy spell for them to use.

But Vander is solidly more portable, and that’s what matters. There’s no real elegance to it as Aetós simply grabs the back of Vander’s shirt with the metal hand and starts to drag him to the portal. It’s still not the easiest, but it’s at least possible. The moment Aetós’s footsteps through that frozen portal, there’s a click like the movement of a watch’s hand, and time begins again.

The silhouette of the masked person and Vander’s much smaller silhouette are the last things the group will see before the teal portal closes and dissipates into motes of energy. ]

[hauntedking]

[ It happens in the blink of an eye. One moment he's focused on Vander and the next Amos turns on him with a snarl and Dimitri is fighting for his life all over again. He releases the weapon that pins Vander to meet Amos, his own great strength rising in him as he tries to fend off claws and teeth. There's blood and pain and then-

Time slows, stops, resumes, in the blinks of an eye. Dimitri roars out in frustration and anger as he tries to find off claws and bites. ]

He's gone-

[ He staggers back one step, then another, and then he lowers his shoulder and tries to bullrush Amos back. ]

[vapour]

[ he is immensely dumbstruck by the sudden disappearance of Vander, and while he thinks he catches the tail end of Vander being kidnapped by someone— is that Aetós as the second silhouette in that closing portal?— it's far too late to confirm nevermind do anything about it.

Any chance Childe might try to (futilely) pursue is gone in favor of turning to aid Dimitri. He'll move to rush towards the two of them, a sudden successive bolt of lightning rapidly connecting to the ground before dissipating only to then repeat itself several steps forward ahead of Childe in a continous pattern. The approaching bolt will continue on a path to strike Amos from one side perpendicular to where Dimitri is. He can still avoid it completely if he disengages and ceases attacking the Meridian; otherwise, it will be a single hit strike before it dissipates. Even so, Childe is coming behind it and intends to slam into Amos too— he's not as built as Dimitri is nevermind Amos, but he's hoping between the lighting bolt and his own force he can create enough destabilization in Amos's center of gravity to make it easier for Dimitri to get the upper hand. ]

We'll have to worry about it after!

[ they can still be angry about it now, though, if it helps them not get killed by Amos.

(And really, there's just so many reasons to be angry over this turn of events now. ) ]

[baltimores]

[ There's a blip, and something happened, but he doesn't have the capacity to recognize or even care what it was.

He stumbles in his next step as he roars at Dimitri, looking to find purchase into his shoulder with one of his claws, when there's a sudden destabilizing pain at his side. Childe's lightning strike — not to mention his body — hit true as his roar turns into one of pain, immediately swallowed up by more anger. The side of his shirt explodes, torn apart by lightning to leave a Lichtenberg figure along his skin, and he whirls around, falling to the ground at the same time, with a claw reaching out to dig into Childe.

His back is to Dimitri now, wild and furious gaze set fully on Childe as he works to push himself back up to his feet. To get a proper hold on Childe, because he had the audacity to attack him and that's all he can think about. People are attacking him now, he has to kill them, and in his mindless rage he's incapable of recognizing the fact that he's boxed in, exposed, ultimately vulnerable between the two of them.

That is, unless he can just dig his claws into Childe's arms to immobilize him, sink his teeth into his throat... ]

[hauntedking]

[ Well, at least with Vaner gone, Dimitri can get his weapon back. He swiftly bends to retrieve the weapon and then straightens in time to see Amos tear into Childe (or try to, anyway). It's a blur of motion and fury and it stirs something in him. He remembers something like this - although perhaps he was on the other side of it the last time something like this happened. A jolt of guilt that he'll deal with later. He grits his teeth and then with a battlecry of his own he goes back into the fray. He lashes out with his lance, trying to score a blow against Amos' legs and trip him up - perhaps even bring him to the ground so Childe can finish him off somehow.

More blood. More death.

It's their lot in life, isn't it? ]