❪ march event log: taken! ❫

[natha]

CW: This event log will contain descriptions and threads involving extreme violence, torture, and possible death. While we do not intend to push beyond any boundaries indicated in sign ups, players may opt out of any aspect of their group write-ups that they find uncomfortable. Characters who have been assigned a role for this month's plot will find specific information about their groups and locations in headers below. We encourage that you thread among your groups within these headers, and as a reminder, only characters with plot roles may participate in rescue threads or hostage situations. All characters, however, are welcome to toplevel and tag in this log. To receive special commendation and be recognized as heroes in a future post, hostages and rescuers must submit a short summary of their event participation HERE by March 24th. OVERVIEW     While the riots and fanatic celebrating in Olympia and Wyver have subsided, neither city is naive enough to believe that life has yet returned to normal. There remains a tension among the citizens: not the slow simmer waiting to boil over that had preceded the aforementioned events, but an apprehension and fear that, despite the Royal Guard and Knightryder’s best efforts, the worst is yet to come. In Olympia, as night falls on the 18th, their fears are proven true. With their previous attempts at revolution through the riots having fallen short, the anti-Simwe radicals in Olympia carry out a more covert operation in their efforts to seize power. Having compiled a list of persons of interest, observed them, gathered intel and taken efforts to ensure that their movements will not be tracked, the radicals strike on the night of the 18th. The entire operation is discrete, and one by one people go missing from streets, homes, and businesses. News that the kidnappings were a large scale operation doesn’t break in Olympia until the following day, but whispers have already travelled to a similar group of radicals in Wyver, who, fearing what a political coup in Olympia would mean for Wyver—or, more specifically how this could affect their chances to stage their own coup should Shanrian choose to step in—launch their own gambit for power with a similar scheme in the early hours of the 19th before dawn. Many are taken straight from their homes, or on their way to work. For all their historical tension and division, Olympia and Wyver aren’t that different once the authorities become aware of what has happened. Both cities remain on the alert. In Olympia, Simwe orders immediate action from the Royal Guard, eager to win over the loyalty of her citizens by showing her commitment to freeing the hostages, while in Wyver, Shanrian is equally quick to take action with the Knightryders. The Altar of Volkkra is one of the most sacred institutions in Wyver, and the threat of the radicals drawing followers using its banner is too great to ignore. ABDUCTIONS AND THE SEARCH     1. Radical groups in both cities have decided that certain citizens of their respective cities would prove to be valuable hostages. Perhaps you've been traveling between cities. Or maybe you've drawn their attention by being outspoken, excelling at your city job, or being an active citizen with a great reputation. What were you doing before you got snatched up? Did someone attempt to stop this terrible thing from happening, to no avail? Did you put up a valiant fight? Regardless of how it happened, you will be forcibly outfitted with an accessory that renders you completely powerless. The extremists are no strangers to magic, either. 2. Those that didn't sign up can still witness characters being abducted and attempt to stop it, though in the end they'll fail to stop the radicals. Characters who either witness these kidnappings or notice the absences can spread the word via missing persons posters, making calls to action, or embarking on searches. Characters that would ICly look for hostages but did not sign-up for the event can still go investigate, but will ultimately not find any kidnappers. All characters may also conduct investigations in locations not included in the clues. 3. With key figures around the cities abducted, several shops and organizations are left stressed and short-staffed. Characters may find themselves working long hours, and can volunteer to help the Guard/Nightryders as they're stretched thin, as well as other key locations such as the Institute, the Fields of the Exalted, etc. There are also children, elderly people, and pets who have been left without care, due to their guardians being kidnapped. Everyone is asked to lend a helping hand. TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS     1. As rescues take place, extremists will be fleeing the following locations: Simwe Institute, the Sanctuary, and the Royal Guard Academy for Olympia, and a cave high on Namarak Mountain, or an island tower off the coastline for Wyver. Characters that did not sign-up can still catch and round up fleeing radicals as hostages are rescued, with additional details on what the extremists in a particular region are capable of in the group details below. 2. Hostages, both NPC and PC, will be gradually found and recovered between March 18th to the 24th. With how harrowing the experience is, rescuers and abductees alike may require medical attention and a helping hand. Perhaps you hope to support them with a shoulder to lean on, or by being there on Natha Station when any dead awake. Either way, the extremists may be defeated, but morale across both cities has taken a hit. 3. Healing doesn't always mean taking care of just the physical harm. Affected people in the cities, both PCs and NPCs, may have significant emotional scars from their experience. These are much harder to heal, and may not be going away anytime soon, but the people are doing their best to provide happy distractions to those who were taken hostage. Acts of kindness are encouraged and appreciated. Perhaps you can cook a few meals to take a burden off their shoulders, organize a fundraiser to help with relief efforts, or read a book to someone in recovery. A little bit of your time may go a long way. FINAL OOC NOTES     Once again, hostages and rescuers may find detailed info on their scenarios in subheaders below. These may also be used as top levels for each group! Additionally, all characters, including those that did not sign up, are welcome to toplevel in this log. For characters that are dying, please be sure to review the FAQ on death! We've updated it to provide more details for everyone this event. Don't forget to submit a summary of your event participation to guide our plot forward and earn influence with the NPCs! QUICK NAV premise ● faq ● lore ● map ● npcs taken ● atp/emp ● application ● rep/acp calendar ● hiatus/drops ● modbox [ FULL NAVIGATION ] elnysa nysalogs nysaisles nysaooc elnyan

Comments

Mantis | aftermath | OTA

[uglybug]

A
[In the immediate aftermath, Mantis can be found wherever there are injured. She starts in Wyver, but eventually ends up in Olympia as well, because the drive to Be Useful is near overwhelming. Where someone may need a hand, she's there to lend it. An errand to run? She's willing to run. (She shouldn't -- her arm is bandaged, but carefully hidden from prying eyes. It had been a harrowing trek to the top of the mountain and back.)

She almost never stops. She might hand off a hot drink, whether one is injured or just visiting. She might ask if you need a bite of food. She might offer a quick touch -- and the one who receives it might feel an immediate sense of contentment and peace.

Or she might run into someone and spill a mug of way too lot liquid all over them.]

B
[She comes back to Wyver.

She always does. It's where her friends are. Her little, weird family.

She hasn't slept nearly enough. She's brittle; she's been giving so many people, whether they know it or not, a small piece of something good that it seems that she has nothing left for herself. (She could take from someone. She could steal a bit of wherewithal and courage and strength from someone else, but they all need it. They all need it so badly.)

There's a little place she frequents. It's a bar, really, one she'd shown to Peter when he'd came back to them. Quiet and homey, it suits her and if she finds herself there, ordering a drink for herself and no one else...

...well, no one can blame her, right?

Should she see someone whom she knows, she'll offer a little smile -- and look them over with a critical gaze, because one never knows if they're hurt. If they're caught up in all this as much -- or more -- than she is.]

C
[Wildcard. Throw me something or contact me at n0teworthy to plot it out.]

A (Olympia)

[inaurare]

[the Sanctuary have insisted that Linneus stay until the worst of the wounds and sores have healed; until he can manage by himself, and he is on his way to that at least, able to hobble stiffly a little more each day. Between the exertion and the painkillers - no more needles, thank god - he sleeps intermittently, huddled in blankets and sheets piled to soften the bed for him.

And at his... request, the door is kept open. Although the comings and goings of visitors and patients disturb his sleep a little, closed doors have been unnerving, since his captivity, and he startles badly whenever a door is opened. This is better, gives some warning of someone drawing closer, and he shifts a little bit as his bandaged hand is taken-]

Miss...?

[uglybug]

[She doesn't mean to wake him. Mantis has been periodically checking on patients and visitors alike, moving through the Sanctuary like a shadow. (She used to work here; it feels odd to be here again.)]

Oh. Hello. [She smiles gently and gives him a one-shouldered shrug.] I did not mean to wake you. How are you feeling?

[inaurare]

I'm...

[he is tempted to lie, because he has always smiled and brushed off anything to happen to him. But it's harder to get away with an "I'm fine" wreathed in bandages like this; harder when his dreams put him right back in the place where he and the others suffered.

At least the worst of the hurt has been drugged out of him, for the time being, and trying to keep his mind off the ordeal is less of a full-time exercise when he has company to pass the time with.]

I'm... as well as can be expected, I think. We haven't met...

[uglybug]

[She takes his hand with both of hers; her touch is gentle, almost erring on the side of caution with how light her fingers are.]

My name is Mantis. I have been working with the healers.

[Sort of. She's mostly been avoiding as many people whom she might know as she possible can while giving the injured her own peculiar brand of comfort.]

What is your name?

[inaurare]

[a light smile with that]

Mine is Linneus. Thank you for your work, miss.

[and he can't blame the lightness of that hold, really. If anything, he's appreciative of it, though it's hard to return the touch, clumsy with his bindings]

Are they faring well, the others? I can't visit as often as I would wish...

[uglybug]

[Her touch is careful, both in that it is light and in that she keeps skin on skin, though she hasn't used her abilities yet.]

As well as can be expected, I think. This has been very difficult on everyone involved.

[inaurare]

[ah, the phrase of the hour - Linneus' chuckle is a little more of a huff, his free arm curling around his side. He doesn't have it in him, quite, for a full laugh.]

I do hope they have speedy recoveries, all of them. Here, and Wyver too. It's...

[a light shake of his head. Learning the scope of the kidnappings... it's staggering. Linneus isn't sure it has fully sunk in, still grappling as he is with his own experience.]

Forgive me, Miss Mantis, are you... new? I think I might have noticed you in Olympia, otherwise...

[uglybug]

[She hums under her breath in agreement. She hopes for speedy recoveries for all involved as well and, when he trails off, she calls on her own abilities to send him a little contentment and peace.

It's worth noting that her antennae will glow as she does.]

I spend most of my time in Wyver, though I did work in the Sanctuary when I first arrived here. I was with the first wave of refugees.

[inaurare]

Miss--?

[there is a moment of slight alarm in his voice - of course, he has come to learn that people here have all kinds of appearances, but it is the glowing that startles him, if only for a moment, before that all gets washed away with a wave of calm that has him closing his eyes a moment, sinking back.

That is probably just... how she is. That's fine...]

You worked here? Was it because Wyver fit you better, that you left?

[uglybug]

[She only smiles in the face of his alarm, and pats his hand as he calms. There, that's what she is trying for and it settles a knot of anxiety in her own chest to see him settle.]

My friends were wrongly implicated in a bombing here. They went to Wyver and I left with them.

[inaurare]

[a light furrow in his brow, recalling - that seems so long ago, the explosion, the sickness...]

The explosion in the market place?

[...he can understand why they would want to leave, after being unfairly blamed.]

So you left with them? How do you find Wyver?

[uglybug]

[She nods.] My friends Rocket and Peter were accused of the bombing, among others.

I like Wyver. I miss my work in Olympia, but I'm finding my place in Wyver.

a | olympia

[phykios]

[ luckily for mantis, percy is the best person to accidentally spill a mug of tea (or coffee, or whatever) on.

or, at least -- almost. because while he's distracted enough to run straight into her, he reacts instinctively to the hot drink; the water mixed into the drink responds to his will, and the liquid arcs away from them, splashing to the ground harmlessly.

and then he blinks, and realizes he recognizes her. ]

Mantis? Wow, it's been a while.

[uglybug]

[Her startled soft exclamation cuts off as the drink coalesces in the air and splashes onto the ground. That could have been a disaster. She still needs to get a new cup but at least she didn't spill it on anyone.

It takes but a small moment to recognize the face and she gives him a wide smile.] Hello. It's been far too long.

[phykios]

Yeah, it has.

[ since he first arrived, which both feels like not that long and also a lifetime ago. in the immediate aftermath of the rescues, percy's voice is scratchier than she might remember, hoarse, and there are healing burns on his arms.

the reason? chemical spills are never fun, and they're less fun when they react violently to magic.

but anyway. rather than smiling back, he asks, ]

Have you been okay? With everything going on -- did anything happen to you?

[ as in: was she taken? was she hurt? he should've checked in, he thinks, with a pang of guilt. ]

[uglybug]

[She notices; it wipes the (not exactly genuine, but that's what you do when you see someone you know) smile off her face. She reaches out, to gently take his hand, if he'll let her.]

I helped rescue some people. I wasn't taken.

[It's okay. She's okay -- for the most part.]

[phykios]

[ percy had been so concerned about the people he did know were taken that the idea of finding out what'd happened to the people where he didn't know either way hadn't occurred to him. it seems terrible of him now, after the fact.

mantis takes his hand, and though he feels a little stupid for sounding so obviously shaken, it's reassuring. ]

I guess I shouldn't be surprised. [ and, late, he offers a smile. ] Helping people does kinda seem to be what you do.

[ she helped him, the last time they met, and now with these rescues. ]

[uglybug]

[She wraps her fingers around his and, without asking, eases a bit of encouragement and peace into his psyche. (Just a touch, since it is done with only tacit permission.)]

Are you well?

[phykios]

[ later, he might remember their first conversation, and wonder about this. but right now, he hardly notices her subtle boost; he just feels a little calmer, steadier. ]

I'm okay. Nothing happened to me.

[ no kidnapping, anyway. ]

[uglybug]

Nothing? [She turns his hand in hers and looks pointedly down at his arm.

(She shouldn't be asking. Her wrist is wrapped and there are bandages under her own sleeve.)]

[phykios]

[ wow, this callout!! ]

Uh, almost nothing. [ he shrugs. ] The psychotic kidnapper guys didn't make it easy to make it to the people they took. I'm guessing the same goes for you.

[ he sees those bandages at her wrist. ]

[uglybug]

[She has the grace to look a little chagrined at the comment. She squeezes his hand before letting go.]

No, they did not, but we brought them home. [Most of them, at any rate. She looks down, frowning.] I am all right. My friends are all right. That's what matters.

[phykios]

I feel the same way.

[ a few burns were worth being able to save whoever they could. with his hand released, he puts both of them into his pockets, sighs. ]

You're usually in Wyver, right? Do you have any idea why this happened there too?

[uglybug]

[She shakes her head.] The same hate, I'd imagine, that made it possible in Olympia. For all that they fight so much, Olympia and Wyver are very much alike.