nysalogs | ❪ march event log: taken! ❫

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❪ march event log: taken! ❫

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!

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

1. THE BEGINNING

[He doesn't really understand what happened, at first. He was asked to help move something heavy, so of course he said yes; then there was some kind of powder blown into his face... and now he is here. It's probably something like a hospital - did he fall? hit his head on something? - but it reminds him vaguely of the dorms at the orphanage.

Maybe that's the first hint that something is wrong.

He's not alone, at least, and that makes all the difference, even with the realization of just how wrong the situation is starting to sink in. He'll be strong; he'll help people get out of here. How hard could it be, anyway? Even if there's a lock on the door, if he transforms his arms, he -...

But he can't. Nothing happens, and while his relationship with the tiger may not always have been friendly, to suddenly be without his main source of strength - something he had, by necessity, relied on a great deal - is terrifying. And that's what he blames the nausea on at first, when he approaches the door as his regular, human self; that's what he presumes is the reason he's so afraid. But very soon he realizes that there's more to it than that, the door itself a source of terror.]

2. THE MIDDLE

[He tries to turn the interrogations around on their captives, at first. Even if he can't seem to attack them - and, even if he's anything but violent by nature, that's a little scary in itself, not even being able to tense his muscles in preparation to strike - he demands that his friends and him are let go, that the kidnappers give up while they still have a chance of being forgiven. They don't even acknowledge that he's spoken, paying attention only to themselves and their own goals, and continuing with their hypnosis as planned.

Atsushi has never made a secret of his desire for peace, and (especially recently) his support for Simwe. He's not sure what the interrogation does to him - he can't seem to remember the process in detail after the fact - except that believing these things seems to make something inside of him crack and shatter wherever these beliefs touch, creating little hollows where there used to be him, and digging them a little deeper each time. It hurts, if not in a physical sense, and when he comes out of the interrogation, dazed, any attention he gets will be simply too much: he'll shove, and fight people off if he has to, even if he'll be mortified if he hurts anybody.

He can't help it: he needs to be left alone, to remember who he is.]

3. THE END - cw self-harm and hints of self-starvation

[He keeps hurting people, and even if he hasn't seriously injured anyone, it's terrifying how he's not in control of himself. It was supposed to be the tiger who did that kind of thing - but he doesn't have the tiger anymore, does he? (Did he ever..?) The longer this lasts, the more he's convinced that it's just something inherently wrong with him. He'll attack anyone and everyone; he needs to stay away from people. He stays in his cot and hides himself under the blankets, not eating and barely drinking, because he doesn't think he deserves it anyway. There was a sense of progress and accomplishment once, though it's getting harder to remember what that was even for; now, he believes the words he's been told so many times in the past that they stick with him even now: the world would be better off without him. After all, every time people try to talk to him or - God forbid - touch him, he lashes out verbally or physically, and he doesn't want to hurt them. He doesn't, he doesn't, he doesn't...

Suddenly there's enough noise that he becomes aware of it, even in his blanket cave. He pokes his head out, trying and failing to understand what might be happening - but then one of their captors is there, with a knife. "Use that on yourself," the woman says with a special kind of insistence, pressing it into his hand, and disappears.

It's a revelation. Putting his legs over the side of the bed, Atsushi sits there, hunched over, and finally understands. He should have done this from the start. The only way to keep from hurting others is to keep hurting himself.

His captor probably intended for him to make a quick end of it, but that's not how he took the message, and that's not what he does. Instead, he draws the knife over his arm, fascinated at the result. Yes, it hurts; of course it hurts, physically. But the fear is gone. The lack of control over himself, the knowledge that he'll hurt his friends, the pure terror he's felt all these days with increasing intensity - it all vanishes, as long as he keeps cutting himself. He breathes a soft laugh, just once, and keeps cutting, more and more, deeper and deeper, almost meditatively. Finally, everything is okay again. This pain is so much easier to handle than the fear.

Blood keeps dripping off his arms, off his legs, and suddenly tears fall into the wounds. He blinks his vision clear, having not even realized he was crying. That's strange, isn't it? Why would he be crying?]

_{[No matter how hard Slaine looks, he can't seem to find who he wants to find ever so desperately. That doesn't mean he hasn't come across familiar faces. Right now there's one that he feels compelled to help. Atsushi had been kind to him, perhaps too kind. People like him, well, he's still trying to convince himself that he deserves kindness and happiness.

The woman that had given Atsushi the knife in the first place? She's dead. Slaine had put a bullet in the back of her skull, for once his aim hitting its intended mark. As far as he's concerned, this is war. It's kill or be killed, and the last thing he intends to do is die before he finds Yona.

But this isn't Yona. Sure, the blood seeping out of Atsushi's arm is as red as her hair but this is...this is wrong-]}

Atsushi stop-!

_{[There's no hesitation as Slaine approaches, quick to grab the other boy's wrist in a bid to lift his hand away from his arm and keep the knife from doing further damage.]}

Stop it's okay...please-!

[For all the things that have been slipping from his grasps, Atsushi still has a vague recollection of his name. And yet he doesn't respond when it's yelled at him, not really hearing it. For the first time in days - has it really only been days? it might be weeks - he's finally got a moment of peace.

So it's only when his wrist is grabbed that he stops by necessity, looking up with tear-streaked cheeks and lips that are lightly parted for easier breathing. Someone...? Oh! He knows that face. What was the name again?]

... Slaine... [Good, he knows. That's oddly reassuring, even under these circumstances. Atsushi tries to force a smile, but the end result isn't that impressive.] I know. I'm making it okay again, so. Let me keep going, okay?

Like Hell I'm letting you continue! You've carved your arm up! Stop it!

_{[He's...not really good at this. He's never been in a situation like this before, having to deal with someone else's immediate, inner demons on full display instead of just suffering with his own. The grip on Atsushi's wrist becomes tighter as he tries to pull it away even further. This is madness. This is true insanity.]}

[Atsushi really doesn't understand what the big fuss is, but it never even occurs to him to try pulling free of Slaine's grasp. The cuts still hurt; maybe that's enough for a break as he explains himself.]

It's okay, really! If I'm hurting myself, I can't hurt other people, right?

[That's the "logic" of it, the part that makes sense to him. He feels awkward, almost a little guilty, that he's taking up Slaine's attention this way. Maybe it's easier to make excuses; it usually is.]

It's really okay. I can always...

[... heal himself. That's what he thinks, but suddenly he's not sure that's right anymore. Something about that is wrong. He feels intensely sick at the realization, and he doesn't understand why.]

_{[This...is a little too close for comfort, in the sense of having to face self-loathing on display. He can sympathize, hell empathize with what Atsushi's saying...but he knows those aren't the words of someone who's thinking straight. No one who's thinking straight would do what Atsushi had done to his own arm.

God...it's bleeding so much...]}

Here...give me that-

_{[He manages to pry the knife out of Atsushi's grasp, only to toss it across the room. Immediately he goes for the other boy's face, grabbing it between each of his palms.]}

Look and listen to me, okay? You already hurt enough!

Edited 2018-03-20 08:13 (UTC)

[Atsushi tries to follow the knife with his eyes, but he doesn't get much of a chance when Slaine grabs his face like that. Atsushi looks right back at him, a little wide-eyed. For a moment, the message seems to sink in - the emotions more than the words - but it's the words that make him protest in the end.]

You don't understand... I hurt people again. I always end up hurting people...

[He didn't even do anything all that terrible, but little things can trip a person up a lot, when combined with hypnosis. He lowers his eyes, even though he doesn't try to pull from Slaine's grasp.]

I wasn't even the tiger.

You think you're the only one who ends up hurting people? People hurt each other all the time.

_{[Hah, this is rich. The hypocrisy isn't exactly lost on Slaine but he can deal with his own inner demons at a later date. Right now Atsushi takes top priority. He's not really sure what he means, mentioning a tiger, but that's not important.]}

I ended up failing and hurting the most important person in my life...do you see me doing what you're doing right now?

I'm sorry.

[To hear that, he means. There's a vague memory of Slaine mentioning dark things from his past, but it's been so hard to concentrate on thoughts and memories for so long now.]

This really helped, though. I'm finally feeling okay again. I'm just...

[His head still hurts, somehow, but that's not the worst of it. He hasn't been eating, and he's lost a lot of blood.]

I'm tired. Do you think it would be okay if I slept for a while?

Edited 2018-03-20 18:28 (UTC)

Atsushi Nakajima | hostage

3. Sushi no...

=^._.^= ∫

why this

... because we're evil?

basically

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