nysalogs | ❪ event ❫ hour of ruin

HOUR OF RUIN

Sometime after midnight, after preparations have been put aside in favor of drinks and rest, a thunderous beating of wings shatters the air — the High Dragon Ysverai, once again risen. The sound echoes high off Namarak Mountain, but travels easily to both Wyver and Olympia: scream after scream rends the still night, as though a creature were dying rather than being born again.

Having only had days to plan their defense against the creature, Olympia and Wyver snatch up their arms. The Royal Guard and the Knightryders can be seen on their steeds hurrying through the cities, because Ysverai doesn't remain isolated at the mountain's peak for long.

There are pictures of Ysverai in abundance throughout both cities, but the creature that circles in the sky looks nothing like the majestic creature spoken of in history books. Even from far below, wounds and lacerations can be seen marring what should be smooth scales, and blood falls with every beat of the dragon's wings. The damage becomes more clear when moonlight illuminates Ysverai, revealing the rotting dragon for all to see.

The sight of flesh peeling away and thick blood where it oozes from his cracked, greyish hide is as frightening as the power he possesses.

REASON'S TRANSCENDENCE

Mad from the anguish of his forced revival, Ysverai will show none of his renowned wisdom or compassion, mindless and seeking to inflict his pain onto whatever emerges in his path.

His very presence creates chaos: animals (Olympia | Wyver) domesticated and wild, flee from the merest hint of his approach, panicked and stampeding in wild droves. The reason is obvious: organic matter exposed too long to his presence begins to rot and decay. A field he lands in rots and lies fallow. Buildings crack and crumble, their supports pitted and corroded as though they've been left in disrepair for years. Even the ground that Ysverai walks upon is tainted; a corrosive sludge bubbles up in his massive, clawed footsteps, the ground beneath him putrefied and toxic, oozing corruption. This sludge can be tar-like, poisonous and sucking people in like quicksand; panic, and you'll only sink faster.

Prolonged exposure to Ysverai takes a mental toll on anyone in his proximity as well. Effects similar to those from being near his heart — selfish desires and lowered inhibitions — will begin to fester in those around him.

Every time Ysverai roars, pain will run through all those that hear him — a pain not just physical, but of true, anguished heartbreak. Those who hear Ysverai will feel (to a degree of your choosing) a sharing of his pain, the agony of flesh rotting from their bodies, blood oozing from under their skin, and a terrible, incandescent fury — and beneath that, a gut-wrenching sadness. This effect is further enhanced by any exposure to Ysverai's blood, and being drenched in greater quantities will cause one to become more in sync with the dragon.

Finally, Ysverai is aggressive, attacking anyone and anything that approaches. He starts by breathing out a smog, acidic and putrefying — characters caught directly by this attack will find that medicine and healing magic of any kind hurts them for hours after exposure. The dragon will ignite the smog to breathe fire, if sparingly.

IN WYVER

Ysverai's shadow falls over the near reaches of Wyver first. Upon hearing Ysverai's cry, the dragons in Wyver become completely frenzied, turning against their partners among the Knightryders without the slightest resistance. Those familiar with dragons might deduce that they're in pain, though they don't show any sign of injury. The dragons knock their riders off their backs in midair and dive at citizens, jaws wide. Any attempts to soothe them will be long fought, achieved with great difficulty, and will see them retreat into a cowering state.

It's not just the airborne Knightryders taking to the defense of the city however, and people on the ground are mobilizing as well. On rooftops across the city are cannons set to fire harpoons. And if the spearheads alone aren't enough to injure the beast, they're coated with a paralyzing poison as well. Unfortunately, the soldiers stationed on the rooftops are prime targets to the frenzied dragons populating Wyver's skies, leaving the cannons open for ordinary citizens to use should they choose. Left alone too long, and cannons may fall under the control of the few remaining radicals that had opted not to flee the cities to join up with their leader Raysc, choosing instead to wait for an opportune moment to unleash their anger on the people of Wyver. These radicals will need to be dealt with before they can turn the cannons upon Wyver's defenders.

IN OLYMPIA

In Olympia, the gryphon partners of the Royal Guard react with immediate hostility to anyone showing signs of Ysverai's influence. Their keen senses allow them to pick up the smell of Ysverai's blood and they attack anyone with so much as a drop of tainted blood on them. Those who bear lingering effects of Ysverai's mental attack and who remain in sync with the dragon after hearing Ysverai's cry are also targeted and must face the gryphons' wrath without mercy or restraint. The gryphons must be disabled, for Olympia will not look upon any injury to their prized steeds lightly. However, the gryphons also show some resistance to Ysverai's cry, which is a great boon in battle against the dragon — gryphons that have lost their riders will be available for use, able to carry two passengers at a time.

The people of Olympia aren't planning to restrict their offense to pure brute force, and the mages of the city can be seen across Olympia wielding enchanted chains, using telekinesis in the hopes of restraining Ysverai and assisting in the airborne troops. But like the decaying buildings and wildlife, Ysverai is warping the magic around him, the chains faltering as they approach him, whipping back toward the city instead to cage whoever happens to be closest. It's not just the enchanted chains either, but other magic might behave erratically in his presence, as if the very essence of the spells have been corrupted.

VIRTUOUS VERSE

Both cities realize they need to seek survival rather than victory against Ysverai, switching gears to carry out diversion efforts and evacuation plans. It falls to refugees to continue the offensive while the Royal Guard and the Knightryders devote their attention to ensuring the safety of the citizens as they flee.

With official forces stretched thin, civilians and refugees alike will also need to step up to help herd citizens toward safety among a maze of collapsing buildings. Others will need to see to gathering resources for the evacuation, and while gathering non perishables is easy enough, it's considerably harder to wrangle livestock into cooperating amidst such chaos.

Those fighting may be asked to act as bait for Ysverai. Chatter through official troops speaks of a switch in strategy: the objective now is capture the dragon's attention and draw him away from the populous cities and towards the South Outpost. Whether or not it's possible to defeat the dragon remains uncertain, but there's no question that it will be easier to battle him without worrying about civilians.

THE RAGE

Luckily, the dragon is indiscriminate in his rage, and easily lured so long as a suitably infuriating target is before him. It doesn't take long to draw him to the South Outpost, but the trail of destruction he leaves in his wake is vast. Once there, the combined forces are greeted not just by Ysverai, but also by the appearance of Ysverai's master.

How bravely you've all come to meet your doom! Great heroes, one and all, ha! I welcome you, bring your best. Show me the power that's protected Olympia and Wyver, all that you have to offer me, whatever pitiful excuse for valor you seek to cling to when the fear has you cowering in your beds. All will be for naught in the face of Ysverai's might!

Let history witness the day the glory of war is reignited — the day that Wyver remembers its fangs once more! Come, Ysverai, last and greatest of the High Dragons! Come, and restore Wyver to its rightful place! Come, fulfill the promise as our protector that you could not in life!

Raysc lifts a gleaming device as he issues his command. Red lights blink and blood, the same oozing liquid that drips from Ysverai's many wounds, runs in clear tubes through the device. Ysverai rears back as Raysc makes adjustments to a control panel — and then lunges forward, mouth agape. With a single swallow, Raysc meets his end.

Raysc's attempt to control the dragon has only enraged him further, spurring Ysverai on to new heights of fury. It's become more vital than ever to face the dragon and take him down here and now. A few effective strategies are learned from research efforts and observed while defending Olympia and Wyver: goading the dragon into breathing fire will hurt him, burning him from the inside out, and attacks to his joints, eyes, wings, and exposed bone are effective. Ice is a natural repellent to dragons and can be used defensively or to weaken the dragon's hide. Healing spells will also react unnaturally to Ysverai's flesh, hastening his decay.

However, while concentrated efforts will lock him down, Ysverai cannot be permanently killed in this state — his flesh constantly rots and spawns anew. Attacking him here is to protect civilians, keeping him busy to avoid mass destruction elsewhere. Therefore, the battle is one of attrition, a matter of a race against time. You must destroy his flesh faster than it is able to regenerate to have any hope of victory.

Finally, when Ysverai is weakening, little more than bones with a few last vestiges of rotten meat hanging from a skeleton, the pathetic remnants of the last High Dragon takes to the skies. His wings are barely intact enough to carry him, yet desperation lifts him, higher and higher, until he lets out one great, earth-shaking roar.

A roar that carries across the battlefield, sending all who hear it to their knees. A roar that shatters the swords in soldiers' hands, that rends apart the very air itself — Ysverai's last act, a great curse upon El Nysa, to bring down the sky.

AND THE WORLD STOOD STILL

The terror of Ysverai's destruction hangs overhead — a tear in the sky, darkness pouring through, tendrils reaching down towards El Nysa to swallow up the planet in the dragon's final act of revenge. And yet nothing moves. A halo of brilliant light surrounds the rift in the sky, holding the grasping, hungry tendrils in check. And on the planet, not a creature moves. Not a blade of grass stirs. You're not able to even draw a breath. No matter where you are, not even the heart in your chest is beating. Everything has stopped — time has come to a standstill.

In a wash of light, an aurora of transport, you find yourself delivered to Thesa Station. Darma stands before you, her expression solemn, perhaps even grim, though that may just be a trick of the station's harsh lighting. She explains what has happened in short order: planetside, time has been completely frozen.

We have seen the birth and end of worlds. The rise and fall of civilizations infinite times over. We have seen all threads of possibilities that could have lead to this very moment... Or should have. Perhaps you might doubt our sincerity when we say this comes as a surprise to us, as well...

Special technology has been used to blind us. To this day, we only know of one region capable of creating and utilizing such technology... you will find this technology in a city known as Nadril. We understand that you have created a life down in Wyver and Olympia, but now we must ask that you put that life on pause. We ask you to travel to Nadril and find the original Refugee, and with him, answers. As you will discover, he does not wish to speak to us. It is no matter. By now it is too late to keep the Nysan public unaware of our existence.

We commend the efforts of those who wish to protect their comrades on the battlefield below, but a creature like poor Ysverai, twisted and warped, given unnatural life with terrible magic and technology, does not simply go down with manpower. Please, leave Ysverai to us. Time on the planet will remain stopped while we determine how to deal with the dragon. For now, rest and recover your strength. We have returned, and soon, there will be new refugees awakening. Perhaps you might like to prepare yourselves to greet them?

I'm sorry that I can't answer more questions, but for now, all our attention must turn to finding a way to stop what Ysverai has wrought.

A bank of monitors behind Darma displays the battlefield below: Ysverai's frozen, looming figure and the breach in the sky, and the Natha's halo, holding the destruction back. Though time passes normally on Thesa Station, El Nysa remains frozen, and all Refugees are unable to return to the planet until Ysverai's menace is dealt with. Luckily, with the Natha's return, full functionality has also returned to the station. The lights and environmentals are back to full power, access to all areas has been restored, the cafeteria is serving its normal offerings, and there's no evidence of any glitching or malfunctions.

Doubtless, the period of rest is much needed after the hard-fought battle. For now, with time on El Nysa at a standstill, there's little else to be done but enjoy the reprieve aboard Thesa Station.

FINAL OOC NOTE

Characters that reach an AC length action thread in this event will receive 2 rep for all factions, including Natha. Note that while these are split up for ease of processing, players may submit for all three.

OLYMPIA | WYVER | NATHA
Players can expect this event to run three days ICly before everyone is teleported to Thesa Station! From thereon, all characters will be grounded at the Station until the Test Drive Meme later this month.

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ While JJ has seen a lot during his time on El Nysa, this is still a lot more to take in than he's really capable of absorbing. He knows that Diva is a vampire; he'd seen a brief glimpse of her willingness to kill, and others had warned him about her, but it's still difficult to reconcile this massacre with—

Because the fact is that while Diva might not be normal, she'd never been menacing, and that makes it difficult for him to understand that the monster who's created this scene is her.

It leaves him a little lightheaded. ]

Uh...

[ He starts when those red hands press against his face, stomach lurching again and he has to turn his head to the side to spit some of the putrid taste from his mouth lest he throw up again. ]

What... [ What exactly are you supposed to say in this kind of situation? ] What are you doing here?

_{[What is she doing here? Good question. Honestly, she's not really sure? All she knows is that the desire to kill is overwhelming, all encompassing...that the rage the dragon's cries stir up within her is the very same rage she indulged in the day she was freed from her tower.

When she looks at JJ's fearful face though, something inside her clicks. Something isn't right. His blue eyes are a stark contrast to the bloody red of her hands and there's something about that very combination that upsets her. Blue is her favourite color, after all, and JJ is her favourite human. He's...seeing something he shouldn't, isn't he? Didn't he say he was afraid of blood?

Oh.

Her gaze shifts to the gore around them, the carnage she's responsible for. Ah...this won't do at all. One of the hands cupping his face suddenly shifts, only to cover his eyes, smearing blood against the bridge of his nose and forehead.]}

I feel upset. I feel really, really upset, JJ. My chest hurts a lot and I'm really, really angry...but you don't have to see this, okay?

Edited 2018-06-18 02:13 (UTC)

[ She's upset. That makes sense, considering that all of this is a very upsetting situation. JJ's pretty upset too, though he doesn't know if he's upset enough to kill anyone. To tear them limb from limb, and feel blood warm on his hands like it's not someone's life.

He doesn't think he'll ever be that upset. ]

What -

[ Maybe if JJ was in any position to be objective, he would think it's sweet that Diva's trying to shield his vision from the gruesome sight around them, but he's too busy reeling from it. When the view ahead of him goes black, his imagination goes wild; painting the streets with even more blood than there was, more bodies and more dismembered flesh and bone. He shakes slightly, out of fear and out of the sheer terror that if he says the wrong thing and rejects her, that she'll tear into him too. ]

Okay. [ His swallow is almost audible. ] Maybe we should try calming down. Is there anything that helps you with that?

_{[JJ's fear is a valid one. As it stands if he did reject her it probably wouldn't end very well. She notices the tremor in his body, much like a spider would the vibration of prey stuck in their web. She doesn't begin to wrap him up like an arachnid would, at least not with thread. Its her arms that reach out to draw him close to her, to bring his forehead in line with her blood soaked chest, fingers carding through his hair in a well meaning but misplaced attempt to soothe.

Calm down. Could she? The roars of dragon are still ringing in her ears, still making her blood boil and skin burn as if it's on fire.

But JJ's asking her to, suggesting it even. Tipping her head her hair falls around them, a black curtain of strands as her nails scrape against his scalp.]}

I don't know...I'm not very good at being calm...you can hear it, right JJ? How upset he is? How much his heart aches? It makes me furious.

_{[Understatement of the century.]}

Please don't look...you don't have to. I'll keep you safe.

[ JJ's halfway to a panic attack when she pulls him in for a hug, body immediately going tense when his forehead presses against the cold, damp fabric of her dress. The smell of copper and blood is overwhelming, and he takes everything in him to keep from pushing her away so that he can just run. It's too bad that he doesn't think he would be able to outrun her if that were the case. And even though JJ knows that Diva wouldn't hurt him—or at least, she wouldn't want to. Whether or not she would be able to stop herself while in a frenzy is debatable. There are so many different creatures on El Nysa, and so many prickly characters that JJ hadn't particularly cared for the warnings about Diva being a vampire when at least she was sweet.

But now it feels less like friendship and more like the affection that someone might feel toward a pet: distantly fond, but willing to take them out back if they stepped out of line. ]

I can feel it.

[ Like everyone else around them. He's sure that at least some of the panic in the people across the cities is due to the way Ysverai makes them unable to think.

The dragon shrieks somewhere in the distance, and JJ can feel the fear pricking at his eyes. They can't stay here, or at least he can't, and so he pushes carefully at Diva, ready to ease away. ]

I need to go.

_{[What may have started out as childish affection had, to Diva's credit, developed into something more. JJ was one of the first humans she'd met who had been willing to look past her fangs and see her as just an eccentric girl. Somehow he had wormed his way into her good books and heart, and once Diva had decided he was her favourite that was it, even if the decision had been flippant.

All the warnings JJ may have been given about her wouldn't have prepared him for this level of disaster, however, and as he begins to push her away, saying he needs to go...her mood shifts. She eases up on her grip, reaching with a hand for her own chest instead, gripping blood soaked fabric. There's an unimaginable ache that grips her, as if someone's just taken a knife to her chest.]}

You're leaving me...?

_{[He has to go. Whatever shred of rationality she might have left in her is agreeing. Yes, he should go. For his own safety.]}

You're upset with me...I scared you...I-

_{[The dragon roars again, the shear agony causing her to reach for her ears to cover them with a cry of her own as she sinks to her knees.]}

[ To say that Diva scared him would probably be an understatement. There's a lot that's scaring JJ right now: the fact that he might lose his home again; his livelihood; and the fear that Cam the Chinchilla might not have made it out of the house. The rest of it is closer to outright terror.

He stumbles back when she falls to her knees, the scene flashing red again before his eyes and stomach rolling at the dismembered bodies, the torn apart limbs and the organs dotting the roads. When the dragon roars, he can feel it too: outrage, and panic so bone deep that he worries his heart might just stop. He can't stay what might trigger her again, but he can imagine that the anguish of Ysverai isn't going to help. ]

I have to go.

[ He hadn't meant it as a rejection, mostly out of fear, but it's obviously coming across like one now, and that, combined with the dragon's influence, leaves JJ feeling as though he's operating against a clock now.

He looks down at her, still able to feel the dried blood against his skin, stuttering out a, ] See you later, [ before turning on his heel and running. ]

❪ event ❫ hour of ruin

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