Entry tags:
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❪ 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. 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. 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.
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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[She doesn't care that he's crying. Not in the way he does.]
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[ He mumbles, casting his gaze downward. He feels small and pitiful now, weaker than he did even back in the Dreadfort. ]
I’m Theon.
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That's my boy, Theon. [And just like that, she's softer, and her hands no longer work to keep him in a position, but move to his face to wipe away some of the tears. Her handkerchief is filthy, and her fingers only a little cleaner, but the care is the same. It's less of an attempt to tidy him up and more of a hope to soothe him.] You're all right. Good lad.
You have to know your name.
[He told her that.]
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He nods slowly and finally allows himself to glance up hesitantly, swiping once more at his tears before letting his hands fall into his lap to twist anxiously together. He feels disgusting and ashamed now, having let himself sink so far that he had begged to be Reek.
You have to remember your name, he repeats. No matter what. No matter how frightened you are. ]
It's just easier sometimes.
[ His voice is quiet, as it had been when he first returned from stasis. ]
Not to be Theon at all.
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[Sorry for not being there, for having to push him so hard he begged, for many more things out of her control. Claire drops her hands from his face, but lets one rest over those wringing hands. Not to stop him, but to keep that bridge of touch there.
Some time ago her nails regrew enough that she no longer felt the need to hide her fingertips with gloves. It seems silly, now.]
Are you all right?
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All the same, he nods, his eyebrows knitted together. ]
I’m fine.
[ But why are you apologizing?, he wonders vaguely in the back of his mind. I should be apologizing. I’m the one who caused all this trouble. ]
I’m—I’m sorry.
[ He blinks, still trying to set himself right, but then he jumps. His eyes grow wide and he looks panicked as he glances around wildly, like he's suddenly remembered something. ]
The dogs...I forgot the dogs...
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No one has their pets here. I imagine they're... frozen, like the rest of the world below. [Safe, in a way.] Don't fret about them now. Just worry about yourself.
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Sansa. Where is Sansa?
[ He’s already run into Ramsay, of course, and if they’re all here together…That doesn’t exactly bode well. ]
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She's safe. No one here is going to let anything happen to her. I promise.
[And as much as she'd like, she can't stay with either of them all the time.]
Let's get you some food and water and then I'll bring you to her.
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[ He can feel himself wanting to shrink away once more, but he knows that will do no good. Claire will just pull him back. It’s better to stay where he is.
Theon, he forces himself to remember, even through his panic. Your name is Theon. You were a prince of the Iron Islands. You have a sister. You had two brothers.
Shaking, he tries to take a deep breath. He doesn’t want food or water. He just wants to stop feeling like a man torn in two. ]
Lord Ramsay—he’s here as well.
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[A part of her hopes he'll be just that foolish.]
But... I would feel better if you were with her. Keep an eye on her. I can't be with you both because there are injured that I need to attend to, at least until the healers can get to them. I need you to keep Sansa safe for me.
[And she, him. Maybe giving Theon this task will help him keep it together. Or, maybe it'll make matters worse. Claire isn't sure.]
You and Sansa are two of the most important people to me. I need you both to be safe.
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You don’t need me to keep her safe at all, he thinks, suspicious. It’s the other way around. You’re afraid I’ll do something stupid.
Still, Ramsay is…oddly smart. Smarter than Theon recalls. He was always clever to a certain extent, but this Ramsay seems to be more in control of his temper and his urges. It’s terrifying, but it does offer some sort of relief. He won’t try anything in such a crowded place. Surely he wouldn’t. The last time he had pulled his knife, they had been alone. ]
I don’t know what I can do.
[ He has no weapons, and no other means of keeping anyone safe. He knows Claire is needed with the injured, though. He isn’t going to tell her no. ]
I’m—I’m nothing. I can do nothing.
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[That's about all they can do at this point. Claire takes a deep breath, hating that fact.]
Once I'm done, we'll stick together. All right?
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You saved Jeyne Poole, he tries to force himself to remember. You can stay calm enough to stay with Sansa.
In truth, he isn’t so sure. His mind and heart are both still racing, and he can’t still his hands from wringing together. He nods once more, though. “No” is not an answer. ]
All right. I'm...I'm sorry.
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[He's no child but there's no denying the pool of guilt in her belly. She's felt it before. So many times she wasn't there for Brianna, too busy at the hospital, unable to hand off her patients to anyone else or unable to step away because she was a woman in a man's field and couldn't afford it. It had almost been fatal when a frustrated babysitter left Bree unattended when Claire was (once more) late. She'd been struck by a car searching for her mother. Where were you?
A few bumps and scrapes were enough for Claire to consider leaving her career behind. Seeing Theon, seeing Reek, is almost enough to make her want to say to hell with everyone else and stay with him.]
I'm sorry.
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You don’t understand.
[ He’s always frightened of something, whether it be the creaking of the floorboards in his own home, the concept of pain, or Ramsay himself. In a way, he thinks the only people who could possibly understand to any real extent are Jeyne Poole and Sansa Stark, but he doesn’t know how to put the concept of Reek into words. He doesn’t know how to explain the way that creature lurks in the back of his head, both something he dreads and something he looks to for safety. ]
I didn’t want to be me. I didn’t want to be Theon. You couldn’t have helped.
[ They both know how stubborn he is. ]
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I got you to come back. [With some tears and sobs, but that's beside the point.] If I'd been here, been here sooner...
[Who knows. He should have never been tortured into Reek, never should have crawled under that rock here, even if it had only been minutes. Claire starts to run her hands through her hair, but one catches, and so she abandons the motion entirely. She needs a shower and food and sleep but she knows none of those things are happening anytime soon.
She presses her lips together before speaking more firmly.]
Reek is never better than Theon. And that is the last time I will ever say that name. You are capable, and you have survived everything pushed upon you thus far. Sansa told me you saved her. That may not have been this you, but it was Theon that did it.
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[ He had accepted that he had saved Sansa in some world, but now Ramsay has him mixed up again. If Ramsay isn’t truly Ramsay, then who is the Theon who took his place in that other Westeros? It’s too much.
He doesn’t want to talk about Reek, and he doesn’t want to talk about Theon. He doesn’t want to have a name at all right now. All he can do is just looks down at his hands, down at the gloves that don’t really fit but offer him a small amount of comfort all the same. Robb had been Robb, regardless of which Westeros he came from. ]
I’m fine. I’ll go find Sansa. I’m not injured. Go find someone who is.
[ It's clear that he's closed himself off, though. ]
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Okay.
[It's a first. Claire pushes herself to her feet, but not before pressing a quick kiss to Theon's cheek.]
I'll come find the both of you when I can. I promise.
[And she does, once she's found the people that need some tending, or at least someone to calm them down before they find their own friends or a magical healer that can see to them much more efficiently than Claire can. She stays with Theon when she can, though now and then she's pulled away. No, she can't always be by him or Sansa, but she does her best to be available. She does her best to be there even if, really, there's not much she can do for the ones that matter most.
Once they've settled and begin to find their footing, Claire knows she can't leave Theon to simply sit and wait and think for too long. So, she decides some introductions are in order while they're trapped up here anyway.]
Would you like to see my daughter? Brianna.
[It's very possible he won't. No one here has had an easy time as of late, but Theon especially has been struggling. Why would he want to see a sleeping woman he might not ever meet? Claire hardly talks about her as it is.
But she misses her terribly, every day.]
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He’s grateful for Claire’s presence once more to snap him out of his thoughts. He nods, eager to accept a distraction even if he isn’t particularly interested. ]
I thought I might visit someone as well.
[ He hadn't really, but he may as well check in on his usual three while he's at it. They never move, but sometimes he just has to look upon the faces of his sister, Robb, and Jeyne, just to be certain they're still there. ]
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It's a short walk through stasis to find Brianna's pod. It's a path Claire's taken many times. Once they're before her still form, Claire takes a breath. This isn't an introduction. She should be awake.]
This is her. Bree.
[And if he's seen Jamie, it's clear where her coloring comes from. Fair skin and that long, red hair. Hair that Claire thought might not stay flat-ironed while she slumbers and yet it has, kept still just as much as the rest of her.
Maybe it's no surprise, looking at this young lady, that Claire's been so drawn to Sansa from the beginning. But when she had met Sansa, it wasn't Bree she had in mind because she wasn't yet her mother.]
I wish I could say the two of you would get along, but she's very stubborn. Sweet, but stubborn.
[No idea where she got that from.]
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She looks like Sansa.
[ A blunt, but true comment. She does. Surely Claire has noticed it. He's speaking more like himself now, at least, but his voice is quiet, and his mannerisms riddled with anxiety. ]
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[Claire's not that blind. The resemblance isn't uncanny, but it's there.]
When Ned and I spoke about our children, it sounded like Brianna and Arya were cut from the same cloth. For better and for worse.
[She's quiet for a moment. There's a glance at Theon before she crosses her arms, looking back at Brianna's sleeping face. How many times had she watched her sleep over the years, knowing the world was a better place simply because her chest rose and fell with each breath? How many times had she reached out to stroke her hair, watching her smile in her sleep as her father did?]
When I met Sansa, when we were in that first group that crashed, I hadn't even had Brianna yet. I had recently lost my first daughter, Faith. She had that same red hair, too. So, I felt drawn to Sansa for that reason alone, I suppose.. but I soon cared for her because of Sansa herself and not anything that reminded me of my daughter.
[She liked to imagine now and then that if Faith had lived long enough, she'd be like Sansa.]
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[ The real Arya, he reminds himself in an attempt to tether him further to his identity as Theon. Not Jeyne. He may not have gotten along with all of the Starks, but he still knew them all well.
He frowns, suddenly feeling very alone. If he were in stasis, would anyone think to visit him? Planetside, he found an odd kinship with Jon, and Sansa thinks him to be her savior, but to the other Starks, he’s still a turncloak. He’ll never be one of them. Their pack is strong, and he isn't a part of it. Worse still, he’s useless to his own family, and they never were the sentimental sort.
He steals another glance at Claire, recalling that she had admitted just how much she cared, and his loneliness subsides just a little. ]
Do you visit her often?
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[She had a temper that Claire would love to say is all from the Fraser side of the family, but... maybe not entirely. Their quarrels were explosive and ugly and Brianna always went right for the jugular.]
I do visit her often, yes. Not so much as I once did, because at some point I realized she'd probably be upset if she knew how much time I spent talking at her when she can't hear it. She'd think it'd be a waste when I could be doing something more useful.
But I just like to see her.
[And though she doesn't have any idea what Theon is thinking, she feels he should be reminded:]
It was awful, visiting the both of you when you were in here.
[She thought to visit him.]
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