❪ 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

out of fear; a

[punshots]

[ Losing track of Alisaie and the others is making Prompto an absolute mess, though perhaps it would be difficult to tell, from a distance. He's holding together in battle well enough; his countless encounters with beasts all across Eos have prepared him well for this day. But holding together or not, he's desperate to find any familiar faces in the streets that he can, and it's something of a fortunate turn that the harpoon bolt draws his attention to where the crazed dragon is about to bear down on Krile. Immediately, his course of action is clear, and already he's lifting his handgun to fire a shot into the membrane of one of its wings. It's less to hurt it than to draw its attention, though if it accomplishes both, it's just as well.

Then he dashes near while the dragon screeches with pain, arriving at Krile's side with his weapons at the ready. ]

Krile! Aren't you a sight for sore eyes!

[ And he means that. They may not be particularly close, but Prompto considers Krile a friend, and already he feels bolstered by reconnecting with her on the battlefield. Together, they stand a much better chance at taking this thing down. ]

[baldesion]

[Likewise, Prompto is at least an ally, and she's come to know him much better since the ceremony. He's as dedicated and devoted to his causes as Alisaie suggested.

She wants to tease him about his phrasing but relief over not standing alone against a dragon much bigger than herself wins out.]

You certainly took your time.

[But she's smiling!]

I don't believe it wants to fight us. [If she is in this much pain from whatever the hells Ysverai is yelling, things that resemble him might hurt even more - though it's only a hypothesis.]

[punshots]

[ He'll put up with that sass, if only because he's rather used to it on the battlefield, and it's almost...nostalgic, in a way. But he doesn't dwell on the feeling long, instead turning a grin on her that fades into focus as he looks back to the dragon, weapon at the ready in case the beast should decide to attack.

She's right, though. These dragons...they're not themselves. Prompto has lived in Wyver for months now. These were the mounts of the Knightryders, not the same kind of savage beast that Ysverai is. If they're lashing out, it's not of their own accord.

But what can they do? ]

Think your right. So do we knock it out?

[ Knocking a dragon unconscious seems more difficult than killing it outright, but it would feel wrong to kill it. ]

[baldesion]

[The dragon, not knowing itself, turns on the person who shot it, advancing toward Prompto as if ready to dive at him even though it isn't airborne.]

If you can think of a way.

[She certainly can't. What she can do is buffet it with very concentrated winds, to keep it distracted from making too much headway and closing the distance between Prompto and its teeth.]

The alternatives are worse for at least one of us.

[punshots]

[ Aw, shit. He should have expected this after taking a shot at its wing, but Prompto had been more focused on getting its attention off of Krile than thinking about what comes next. He backs up and away from the dragon and with the time granted him by the buffeting winds, he uses the opportunity to dismiss his gun and pull out his rapier instead. He's still pretty shaky with his red magic, but seems like a better fit for this situation than his guns are. ]

I-I've got an idea. Won't knock it out, but it'll give us some time to get away. Can you keep it busy for a few moments?

[baldesion]

[Is that Alisaie's sword?

No, hers is specifically attuned to her aether and not nearly so plain. Still, Krile looks at him with well-defined confusion and not a lot of confidence.]

An idea that involves red magic?

[Because, much as she would like to give him the benefit of the doubt, he simply doesn't strike her as a fencer.]

[punshots]

[ He is...a fencer in training! But nowhere near as proficient as he is with his firearms. However, spells can be rather versatile, and while his are pretty weak, he should still be able to pull one off enough to give them time to get away from the dragon. ]

Suuuuuuure does! Just — trust me on this one! You just gotta gimme a sec to get the form right!

[ Hence the keeping it busy. Prompto is nowhere near as quick as Alisaie or X'rhun at casting. ]

[baldesion]

[To get the form right.

They're going to be lunch.]

And you consider your firearm - [several conjured stones beat back the dragon as well as they can] - insufficient to the task?

[But a plain metal rapier is going to do the trick?]

I'll delay it for as long as I can, but hurry.

[punshots]

Yeah, j-just — I got this! I got this—

[ He thinks, anyway. Gods, he hopes this works. Prompto pulls out his crystal focus in his other hand, backing up and focusing on the dragon while Krile keeps in busy. He hasn't practiced this spell as much as the others, but he knows he can do it, if he can just channel his aether in the right way.

He thinks about how Alisaie or X'rhun would coach him through it. What they would say. It's surprisingly a lot easier to focus on the task at hand with Alisaie's sharp directions in his mind... ]

[baldesion]

[He won't have forever. Stone and Aero can only keep it at bay for so long.

The dragon takes one great step forward and lunges. Its teeth miss closing around Krile, but the force of its charge carries it into her instead, leaving her rolling and then sprawled upon the ground with a shout.]

[punshots]

[ Shit, it's now or never. Prompto has only sparingly used his spells in actual combat, the bulk of his magic used in practice only, but the same adrenaline rush that focuses his steady hand when firing his gun burgeons beneath his skin now. He only has one chance to get this right before it's back to the drawing board, and if Krile gets injured because he messed up, he'll never forgive himself.

Deep breaths.

Focusing his aether, the spell rushes forth from Prompto's hand, tethering the dragon in place before it can move again. As soon as the spell is dispatched, Prompto rushes over to Krile's side to help her away from the dragon. ]

Krile! Are you okay?!

[baldesion]

[She groans a little when she sits up, but the sitting is rather immediate and followed just as immediately by her scooting backward, away from the tethered dragon.

Into Prompto, who is only trying to help.]

I'm fine. What did you do to it?

[Because it is most definitely still alive and wound up.]

[punshots]

[ He flashes a grin as he attempts to help Krile back to her feet. Despite their situation, he's pretty damn thrilled with what he just pulled off, honestly. His first actual, successful Tether on the battlefield! ]

I stuck it in place! Tether, baby! And Alisaie says that spell is useless...

[ It's fairly useless for actual combat, sure, but in aiding their escape from the dragon, it should be just the thing. ]

[baldesion]

Alisaie likely knows what she's talking about. How long will it stay "tethered"? If we escape but leave it here to burst its fetters, it might only hurt someone else, or worse.

[Krile is aware that to many species of ferocious creature in Hydaelyn she looked like a good meal. Here, too, apparently. But to leave others to the same fate?]

[punshots]

[ His smile falters. He...hadn't thought that far ahead. Honestly, he only wanted to get them out of immediate danger. ]

Um...I-I'm not sure. It'll last a little while, but...what else can we do? Even if we knock it out, it'll wake up again eventually.

[ If she really wants to take it out so it can't hurt anyone else, they either have to find a way to lock it down for good, or kill it. ]

[baldesion]

[He's right. Their options are few, and dwindling by the minute.

Krile looks around at their otherwise deserted surroundings. Any evacuation here seems to have worked, and worked well. So, though it pains her, she shakes her head once and turns away from the dragon.]

Then perhaps leaving it is the best hope we have.

[punshots]

[ He doesn't like just leaving it either, but their options are severely limited. He nods, and starts towards a nearby sidestreet. He's had better luck traversing them than the main thoroughfares of the city. ]

I-It'll be okay. I'm sure of it. This area's pretty clear, so chances are by the time it's free again, it won't have anyone to terrorize!

[ Of course, it could just fly off and find new victims, but...

What else can they do? ]