❪ event ❫ hour of ruin

[natha]

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. QUICK NAV premise ● faq ● lore ● map ● npcs ● bestiary taken ● atp/emp ● application ● rep/acp ● quest bulletin calendar ● hiatus/drops ● modbox [ FULL NAVIGATION ] elnysa nysalogs nysaisles nysaooc elnyan

Comments

[atwo]

a) in wyver.

[ why are living beings such a pain? all these emotions just get in the way -- which isn't an ideal way of thinking coming from her, who is pretty accepting of her own newfound emotions, but she can see how they are annoying and get in the way.

her sword is gripped tightly in her hand as she gives some of the dragons a glare. the ones that feel the need to stop people from escaping. okay, so, she isn't great with dragons and can't relate to them very well, so she doesn't understand the pain they're feeling. ]

Are you going to sit there like an idiot, or help me kill this thing?

[ or maybe try talk a2 out of killing it. one of them works. ]

b) and the world stood still. cw: bodily harm

[ having time frozen in front of you is a strange sight. it's almost heart stopping to know that someone does possess that much power. not that she isn't grateful to be out of that hellhole. her clothing is torn and even parts of her artificial flesh are missing, showing off a black underlay that covers her skeleton. ]

Why didn't do this from the start?

[ if they're oh-so-powerful and holy then they could have come in earlier. it would have saved a lot of hassle. she groans out loud as she rips off some of the hanging flesh and just drops it on the ground. ] Damn. Shit. [ she mutters to herself, looking at her arm which doesn't look quite right. ]

b

[judicia]

( It is a bit jarring to see someone tearing away her skin like that. Anders stares for a moment, not because he thinks it's strange but because he's concerned, and a little confused about the black under layer she exposes. )

What's wrong?

( He knows it's probably none of his business, but he can't help but ask. He may be a little banged up himself, with his whole left arm and shoulder covered in red healing skin, his coat torn, and his palms burnt, but it's nothing he can't handle. )

[atwo]

Everything is wrong.

[ her response is a little meaner then she wanted it to be, but she can't help, but feel frustrated at the situation. ] ... It isn't responding properly. [ which means her arm has taken just one too many hits. a2 shakes her arm, watching as the longer hand is almost limp like. ]

[judicia]

I'm sorry.

( He doesn't begrudge her anger, not when he sees her hand hanging loose at her side. Anyone would be frustrated if they suddenly lost the use of one of their arms, so Anders doesn't get too bothered by it. )

I'm sure there's someone here who can repair it.

( One of the Natha or refugees. Someone who has more experience with androids than Anders. )

Did the dragon do that to you?

[atwo]

[ it still feels so weird when people apologize to her. she can only give him a half hearted shrug in response. ]

I can repair it, I just need to figure out the right parts for it. [ who needs help when you're a strong, independent andoid woman. she honestly does tbh. ]

Yeah, he did.

Dragons are ... not easy.

[judicia]

You can say that again.

( He's just going to take her word for it about being able to fix her arm. It's not like Anders knows what to do about it himself, besides trying to hold her synthetic skin together with bandages. )

You're lucky your arm didn't turn to rust. ( Or have her skin rot off like Anders. ) That dragon was a lot more powerful than any I've ever seen.

[atwo]

It's not designed to rust as easy as metal. The material prevents that, just in case we are stranded for months. [ or years. it is actually helpful. ]

Oh. Did you have dragons in your world?

[judicia]

So does that mean you can do things like swimming? ( He hopes she doesn't mind his curiosity. He's never had the chance to meet an android before. ) I suppose that makes sense.

( As for the question about dragons, Anders nods. )

They were thought to be extinct up until the last thirty years or so. Now you can hardly go anywhere without running into one of the bloody things.

[atwo]

Unfortunately, I'm too dense for that. I would be a rock. [ which sucks because swimming looks like it's super fun. she does enjoy the feeling of water against her skin.

she hums in thought. ]

So you'd have plenty of experience with them.

[judicia]

A fat lot of good it did. All I managed to do was not get myself killed.

( He did weaken the dragon at least somewhat, though, before he get stepped on and sidelined for the rest of the fight. There's a tiny note of frustration in his voice, but he doesn't allow it to linger for too long. )

But you can still take baths and things like that, can't you? ( Do androids even need to take baths? )

[atwo]

That is better than what some people did. [ like getting killed by it.

that can't be a fun experience. ]

I can if I want to, and sometimes I do when my skin gets too dirty because people give me weird looks otherwise.

[judicia]

It still doesn't feel like enough.

( He's just being hard on himself. Once Ysevrai is taken care of, he'll get over it. )

I'm sure they're just concerned. It wouldn't be a bad habit to get into, though, just to make sure you're not spreading anything.

[atwo]

That is always how it feels for most people. I wouldn't worry about it too much.

[ here is some tough love. ]

I doubt I could spread something Wouldn't you need... real body parts for that?

b

[offtune]

[ zero has managed to get herself cleaned up - for the most part. residual pain from ysverai's blood clings to her heart still. things she doesn't expect to feel, shouldn't feel, but a haunting reminder of dragons. it causes her mind to unexpectedly wander to michael and subsequently mikhail - so she finds it ironic that she would run into a2.

here, she is her other partner, if the pact mattered to her at all. but seeing the android showing less skin than usual is... strange, she supposes. it's not so much her appearance that throws her off, but because she feels her own skin crawling, uncertain if it's their connection with the pact or ysverai's blood. wordlessly, she steps closer to a2 and runs her hand over the dark underlay where her skin once was. ]

Rough day.

[atwo]

[ on the plus side of zero being near is that she does feel a little calmer. granted, there is some parts of her feeling uneasy due to the strong connection of their pact which does let her get the hint of pain that resides in zero.

a2 hangs her head for a moment before giving a shrug with one of her shoulders. ] It isn't the worst that has happened.

[ which can be seen as good or bad because on one hand, this isn't a big deal to her, on the other, it's saddening to have gone through worse than this. ]

[offtune]

[ calm is one way to put it - but given their relationship, zero has to feign a sense of calm. otherwise, she'd appear weak in front of her partner. she continues to feel on the skin still, sliding her fingers along the dark streaks. ]

You're gonna have to ask for new skin. Need help with that?

[atwo]

Ugh. [ she doesn't really want to ask, but she knows that zero is right. she can't really just wonder around without it, not unless she wants people to give her weird looks or questions. ]

Why? Are you offering to babysit me asking?

[offtune]

Babysi- hell no.

[ the scoff is coupled with her withdrawing her hand, but her eye observes the damage still. ]

But if you need me to ask or something, I can.

[atwo]

[ a2 snorts in response. she glances at her arm where zero was touching it before she twists and turns the limb, opening and closing her fist. ]

Do you think this is an ugly sight?

[offtune]

[ sometimes, it's hard to believe that a2 could be an android, made of wires and metal. her movements are fluid; she hears no whirls of machinery or anything that would give away her disposition - yet the truth is undeniable when her arm is this badly damaged. ]

Yeah, it's ugly, but — [ zero shrugs and waves her own metal arm. ] Unlike me, you can get that fixed.

[atwo]

[ o u c h. not the response she was hoping for, but zero is a brutally honest person. ]

As long as they're willing to do so, yeah. I guess I can. [ she shrugs in return. ] I bet you could if you asked.

[offtune]

[ it's nothing personal, a2. she's never been picky. while she had been brutally honest about its appearance, it doesn't make her think any less of her. still has a pretty mouth, prettier tongue. zero doesn't need much else when it comes to partners. ]

Well, I'm not sure if I have the best reputation around here, but... [ she would still because she's shameless. and also, moral support. zero simply gestures as if a2 would understand her meaning. ]

[atwo]

[ as long as they do a good job, she's generally happy, right? ]

It isn't like you care about your reputation, or what others think of you. An upgrade never hurts. I can at least vouch for that. [ seeing as how a2 has gotten a couple of them now. ] So, how badly did that dragon kick your ass?

[offtune]

Must be nice, swapping for parts whenever you need it.

[ which is exactly why she isn't concerned about the appearance of the damage. ]

How badly? [ she takes a moment to consider the question. how badly. zero doesn't look much better than a2 — her dress is stained, worse than ever, and he hair tinted in the red of blood and tangled beyond repair. ] You tell me.

[ reaching over, she takes her damaged hand and presses it to her chest. a2 should be feeling exactly what zero does — neutral, for the most part, but as she experienced before, there is still some residual feelings from ysverai. his emotional pain, her physical pains. ]

How do I feel?

[atwo]

It's a pain in the ass to do, at least by yourself.

[ remember the days when others would just do it for you??? or they just fix your body while you're basically asleep?? no?? she doesn't either. (not much of it at least.)

her hand does flinch away from zero a little when she gets a hint of that pain. it's always made her uncomfortable. but, she doesn't completely take her hand away. ]

Like crap. You should do something about that.