❪ event ❫ a moment in eternity

[natha]

TO THERE AND BACK     It has been a month of chills uncharacteristic of what you might remember as summer — cold days and even colder nights. The days are short and the nights feel eternal. With the recent disruption of the network and no sign of a resolution for the world outside of Nadril, one has to wonder what the future holds for El Nysa. What of Olympia, Wyver, and their residents? The animals you cared for - are they destined to remain as frozen as wretched Ysverai forever? What will become of the sleeping ones in Thesa when there is nowhere else to go but this icy city? Yet not all hope is lost just yet. The woman that appeared at the start of the network errors finally shows up again in another network post. Greetings to you all. I apologize for my abrupt appearance and departure before… My name is Nurray, and I am the closest thing to a monarch that you will find here in Nadril. Magda is... indisposed, so I am here to speak to you in his place. First and foremost, you will notice that your network devices are fully functional once more. Should you experience any further issues, please report them to me immediately so that it can be taken care of. Secondly… Investigating the strange frequency interference we've been experiencing has brought some troubling data to light. The passage of time outside of this colony has been halted, of course, but the hold seems... unstable. Whatever it is that Darma has done to contain the calamity, I doubt that it will last for long. Time is an unpredictable force, and attempting to control it can only have adverse effects on the world. You could stay here if you so chose, outside the reach of that magic... but to do that would be to abandon the rest of this planet to an unenviable fate. ...ah, but there is no need to take my word for it. You can see the effects for yourselves, if you wish — merely look outside. "Seeing is believing"... isn’t that the phrase? Nurray has a point: refugees have not been given a chance to see the outside. The frequent snowstorm barrier of Nadril has made it impossible to see what it's like beyond the colony. Soon after the network post, as though the snow has been "turned off," clouds will clear. With the barrier created by the snow gone, the red sun shines brightly upon the dreary city with its warmth. You can see a purple haze on the south horizon, a indication that Yservai wasn’t all just a dream. He's still there, so far away, yet so close anyway. Near the entrance, a mound of snow melts, revealing steps leading towards the underground. It seems to be a part of the subway station you might have found earlier during your exploration of the colony — this time, the station has been powered on. Two trains lie in wait — their destinations read: Olympia and Wyver. — El Nysa is waiting. FREEZE FRAME     The technology found in the subway station of Nadril is truly out of this world. The combined efforts of Natha technology and alien minds have truly created state-of-the-art transportation never before seen by the typical Nysan. It takes no longer than one hour for the intercoms to announce their arrival to the outskirts of the Dranbu Kingdom — though, even with the platform available, the train never stops; it instead continues for another half hour for it to reach the North Gate of the Olympian Empire, where it sits until it's time to return to the tundra. All in all, it takes a mere hour and a half for this high-speed subway travel from Nadril to Olympia. The second train does make a quick stop at the Olympian Station, but it will be another painless hour and a half until it reaches the jungle of the Wyver Kingdom. Because Wyver is its own island, connected only by a bridge, you might notice that a small part of the travel was underwater. The trip takes only a total of three hours, but there's plenty of time for sightseeing. After all, isn't that the whole point of this trip? BE STILL MY HEART. Leaving the train, you are immediately hit with the still, warm air of the underground. It's hot, much different from the winter of the north, but perhaps a welcome change. The station is old, but it still has a fairly new smell to it, and not just because it's been unused for so long. It feels out of place compared to the rest of this world, and this is especially true when you reach the surface. The entrance was hidden under the earth right near the North Gate. Upon leaving the station, you're immediately hit with the familiar wretched smell and atmosphere of the undead. Even if you're new, you won’tt be able to miss Ysverai, the risen Great Dragon. You see this massive creature on the horizon, mouth wide and ready to blast El Nysa into nothing. Yet he remains still — as are all the terrified residents of Olympia. You've only seen this on the monitors of Thesa Station, and now you're able to experience first-hand how utterly quiet and still the world is now. The native Olympians are all over — you see most of them running away from the Great Dragon. Others equipped their armors and rode their steeds straight toward the danger in hopes of protecting their Empire. And the civilians, having lost all hope, are huddled together — at least they would have been able to spend their final moments with loved ones. Up on Thesa Station, you felt dread when you'd observed Ysverai for too long — this remains true here. That dread reaches your heart and clutches it. You feel his pain and suffering, and for those too in tune with emotions, it may be too much for you to be near him. Best to steer clear from him, or perhaps return to the underground. There is much more to be seen, after all. PRAYING WITH FIRE. Another hour and a half south on the subway, and you'll reach the Wyver Station. It's far warmer here in the station this further south, but Ysverai's dread doesn't reach here. On the surface, you are instead immediately hit with the overwhelming humidity of the jungle. With summer in full swing, the layers you've brought with you from Nadril become a burden. In Wyver, the mood is far different. The Great Dragon Yservai was once a being that was respected and worshipped by the Wyver people — not to mention that the one responsible is none other than Prince Raysc — thus his revival is met with somber resilience. Most of Wyver natives, instead of running away, had gathered around fires in prayer. Trained dragons that were unaffected by Ysverai's influence bow by their master's sides in acceptance of what they feel in their heart is to come with the Great Dragon's final blow. You may even spot your own dragon, eyes beamed up toward Thesa, like it knows you were up there at the moment time stood still. It's hard to imagine where one can go from here. You might start thinking about clean-up efforts, how to achieve proper burials for the fallen ones... but with time frozen, you will find that you cannot actually move anything or anyone. It will be dusk, as Thesa's shines across the skies, when storm cloud gather before Thesa's light. And from the clouds is a familiar figure — Once again, she has descended. TIME & TIME AGAIN     Darma is glowing as bright as the naked eye can perceive. Her massive, true form floats before the world she's built from dust. Is this world salvageable in your eyes, Refugee? We held time in hopes that we fould find a way to dissolve this Ysverai back to the ashes from which he was reanimated. Unfortunately, we continue to be unseeing, thus uncertain of the future... after all, our powers are near depleted. Nurray was correct, Refugee, in that I cannot hold time for much longer. There is... another way, however. It is not ideal by any means, but we shall do what we must to keep Ysverai frozen. As for us... we have expended far too much of our energy — Refugee, I am too aware of the misfortunes you've experienced in your time here. I have failed in my promise to provide better living... perhaps, with more time, I may yet see a better future. Until then, I leave Thesa, our hearts, in your hands. Farewell, Refugee. Her brightness dims as she says her final words — at the same time, raises her arms, palms wide, then closes her hands into a fist. In that instant, time is resumed. It's slow at first, as though time is trying to catch up with reality. It takes a several moments until the slow-motion picture before them reaches normalcy. Darma turns her attention to Yservai, whose motion is also returning, but not for long. In her true form, they are comparable in size; Darma's glow continues to dim as she draws closer to the Great Dragon, and then she coils herself around him, holding him still before assimilating into the wretched creature. By the end of it, time has completely returned to normal, and all residents were able to witness the Natha holding time still for Ysverai — The process turns the Great Dragon, as well as Darma, into stone. HIT PLAY TO REPLAY     Darma has resumed time, and Ysverai is no longer a threat. However, it comes with a hefty price for the Natha. The massive, stone statue of Darma embracing Ysverai looms in the valley between the cities of Olympia and Wyver. It's no doubt an intimidating addition to the world, but there is some peace in knowing it's all over. When civilians finally come to, they can't help but look upon the statue in awe — and their respective cities. It's much to take in all at once. Much destruction has been wrought— buildings lay in ruin, and of the citizens still alive, many look to be in poor physical condition. 1. I. The Sanctuary has sustained much damage, and with the high demand of medical care, cannot serve as the central healing place for those in need. Instead, it is up to individual citizens to find resources and establish places of care. Those with a medical inclination or healing powers may set up medical tents, or work out of their homes. Not everything has been destroyed, and it is still possible to obtain supplies from the market or request them from The Sanctuary. There is also, unfortunately, the tragic task of transporting corpses to graveyards and giving fallen citizens a proper burial. The Temples thank you for your service. II. In order to have a functioning city again, buildings and facilities must be repaired and rebuilt. It's possible your own home was demolished in the battle. With so many important buildings needing to be repaired, city officials are too overwhelmed with the coordination of such tasks to double-check that buildings are restored to their original form. What's more, they seem to encourage design innovation, believing that a new, fresh look to the city will revitalize people's morale. Now is the time to put your own unique flair on the interior or exterior of Olympia's infrastructure. Even parts of the Palace need repair. Time has resumed, yes, but the magic that Darma employs isn't flawless. As powerful of an entity as she may be, to tamper with time is difficult. Some would say it defies the laws of nature. Nature seems to agree, and in the next few weeks, El Nysa will be facing a few hiccups as it finds its equilibrium once more and citizens try to return to normalcy. Strangely enough, El Nysa natives are not disturbed by the occurrence of these events. III. Characters may find that they occasionally (or frequently) suffer from lapses in memory. These difficulties with memory may range from light to severe, although they are thankfully not permanent. Within the span of a few minutes to a few hours, difficulties in remembering people and events are resolved. That isn't to say a similar problem won’t happen again tomorrow… IV. Is it just you, or is your housemate looking a bit old lately? No, it isn't just stress making some citizens appear older. For a short amount of time, some characters may find themselves advancing or regressing in age, both physically and mentally. This particular kind of time hiccup is rare and may be particularly disturbing to the affected person’s friends. Thankfully, there have been no cases of this effect lasting more than an hour. V. At times, it seems as though objects and people in El Nysa will feel a bit out of place. These are beings and things that belong to what some may call "alternate universes." Their presence is transient, and some will only appear for a few instances before returning to their rightful existence. The ones that linger a bit longer, however, may make your day more interesting. Before you stands a pet just like yours, except it talks...? Perhaps you'll meet another version of yourself, a more bloodthirsty version of yourself. Or maybe you'll run into a version of your friend that really enjoys your company. The possibilities are truly endless, and potentially mortifying. VI. Towards the end of the month, the frequency of the aforementioned disturbances will decrease. Following this will be an increase in a different sort of disturbance: one that will either make literal seconds seem like an eternity, or force you to move and talk at a speed you never thought possible. It's as though some higher entity is pressing the fast forward or slow down button on life, and considering your mind works at the same pace as normal, the phenomenon is as frustrating as it sounds. Hope you weren't planning to be on time for anything, because it might be awhile before the universe allows you to take that next step. But these phenomena does draw to a close — and with it, you may wonder what will happen now to those sleeping ones in Thesa now that Darma has turned to stone. After all, it will be near the time of which more refugees should wake... Repairs to Thesa Station should remain ongoing so long as parts can be salvaged from Nadril, at least. And with speed travel via subway possible, it should make travel far easier than ever before. Even with Darma gone, you will have to move forward. There is still much to be done. FINAL OOC NOTES     You may acquire REP for Nadril, and either Olympia or Wyver in this log. An AC-eligible thread for ONE (1) NADRIL REP POINT may be submitted HERE BY AUGUST 26TH, 11:59 PM EST. A second AC-eligible thread for 1 REP for either Olympia OR Wyver may be submitted HERE OR HERE BY AUGUST 26TH, 11:59 PM EST. Please direct questions to the questions thread below! Thank you! QUICK NAV premise ● faq ● lore ● map ● npcs taken ● atp/emp ● application ● rep/acp calendar ● hiatus/drops ● modbox [ FULL NAVIGATION ] elnysa nysalogs nysaisles nysaooc elnyan

Comments

[summertimeblues]

"Lou Gehrig's?"

Holy shit. Richie draws back some in surprise, even if he ought not to be so shocked. Amidst all the wacky and weird phenomenons, there were still very humble hurts and curses afflicting the refugees. Hell, he was living with an AIDS victim.

What he doesn't get is the follow up. Not for a few years. He's silent a moment, studying her. He pats his jacket pocket and pulls out a smoke, lighting it with the zippo and taking a studious puff. It's rather professor-like. Had he a pipe instead and his glasses on in lieu of contacts, he'd be the spitting image of an intellectual.

"Not for a few years." His lips thin. "I'm not sure I'm catching your drift. You mean it hasn't hit you this bad for a few years, or that it's not supposed to have gone so haywire on your nerves yet?"

With his dim knowledge of medicine, Richie is only half certain that it's supposed to be a gradual progression. It doesn't seem like the kind of disease that comes in spells. It's literal degradation, isn't it? That's damage done and done permanent. He scratches at his hair, cig pinned between his teeth.

"Shit, I'm no doctor, I can't give you a proper diagnosis, Teej. But I do know that something's been real off lately around here. Ever since the Natha turned the clock back on and let time resume, things have been real stop, go, rewind and fast forward. You get what I mean? The other day I took a piss and the stream froze mid-air. If you ever wanted proof in a higher power I can't think of anything better to give it to you."

Moreover, there was what happened soon after. He frowns.

"Then I ran into my buddy at the store. Except he'd gotten fifteen years shaved off his face and was gawking around like a baby. Didn't recognize me one bit."

[stargatemedic]

Her hand, twisted as it is, reaches out and settles on his knee. She knows her diagnosis and she wants to reassure him that there's nothing that he can do for her at the moment but sit and be there, really. Hearing that she's not the only one experiencing odd out-of-time moments helps and she furrows her brow at someone being, suddenly, approximately fifteen years younger than they were supposed to be.

"In three years, the symptoms come," she tells him, her head jerking slightly as she turns it to look at him. It's uncomfortable and it makes her self-conscious to be seen this way, but if he's seen it elsewhere, maybe something he shares will give her an insight she doesn't have on her own. "I'm dead in five."

There. Saying it clinically makes her less emotional than if she thinks about it for longer, and she doesn't expect sympathy. She's seen it happen on video, knows her own future, and in that she's lucky. Supposedly.

She wants to ask if his friend is still young - and by extension, know if she's going to stay like this - but the words won't form and she stutters over the words.

[summertimeblues]

The touch to his knee from twitching, twisted fingers is not what he's bargained for. It's not his ass on the line here. He meets her eyes with a frown.

Then his gut drops out from its cradle, landing somewhere distant and desolate. Strangers they are, but hearing the prognosis from a woman who can't turn her head without ticking back like a failing clock hand is something so eerie and tragic that it becomes painful to watch. To listen to this woman sputter out her own death sentence is something that kicks him back to watching Dad go, then Mom, two years apart. The same disease in different places.

TJ's got five years. But the symptoms weren't supposed to come for a while yet, and she's smack dab in the middle of them right now.

"So it hit you out of nowhere?" Odd that it made so much sense. When he encountered the younger Prior he feared the worst, that he'd been rebooted and wouldn't remember a thing. Then the hour wore on and it wasn't the case at all.

He takes her hand in his, keeping the knot of their fingers on his knee. She's struggling to spit something else out and now her tongue's gone rogue. It won't do the work it could just a second ago, and that gives him a flicker of fear.

"Listen, if it was out of the blue, then it's going to pass. My pal, he did turn back. All right? It might be gone right away, it might be another hour yet, but it's going to clear out and you'll be back to regular. And this place — they're pretty loosey-goosey with mortality. Nothings written in stone around here." He smiles, teeth clenched but sincerity beaming through. "It's a miracle factory. The one plus side to magic bullshit."

[stargatemedic]

The way he reacts to what she says makes it clear that he's not at all comfortable and guilt hits her for letting him see her like this and giving him the illusion that he has to stay and keep her company while her body degenerates further into itself. As he takes her hand, she attempts a smile but, like everything else, it doesn't come across quite right.

"I hope." She nods both with and without purpose and reason and tries again. "I hope you're right."

It's a lame attempt at giving him the recognition he deserves for the smile he's attempted and the knowledge he's imparted - something about mortality being flexible? - and she makes a mental note to ask later, if she can. If he's right. And, because she feels like it's necessary to ease his conscience, she tries to tell him he doesn't have to stay. The words don't all make it out, but she tries. She even lays her other hand on top of the ones they've rested on his knee.

She's trying to be encouraging. It's what she does.

[summertimeblues]

"I am."

He says it with the kind of surety that passes for rock solid, until you took a magnifier to the fine cracks in the base. That's a terrible guarantee to be making. He might as well start shilling lemons to new drivers for jacked up prices. Or more relevantly, promise miracles to the devout and fat-of-wallets, selling out stadiums and popping invalids out of their wheelchairs.

Baseless assurances aside, he's making the claim for more than goodwill here. He's seen this shit turn around. It goes back to normal. The Natha might be gone but he doesn't trust it's for good, and the strangeness that comes with their meddling lingers too long behind. For them to wake this girl up and immediately let her illness besiege her doesn't add up.

She's stacking another hand on his. Still stymied in trying to get the right words out. Her expressions may be marred but he thinks he gets the message. Apologies, embarrassment, sympathy for him and not herself. All the classics.

"Give it a bit," he urges, slipping a hand free to pull the smoke from his lips and tap off the ash. With the remaining one he rubs his thumb over her fingers. "I don't have anywhere to be."

[stargatemedic]

It's a kindness she's not sure she deserves. He doesn't know her and yet he's braving his own uncomfortable feelings to sit with a woman he has no reason to be around in order to make sure she doesn't, what. Die? TJ is pretty sure that she's not going to get that bad in the next few minutes, but with the pressure to carry on a conversation having passed, she has no qualms in just sitting there and letting the fact that he chose to sit with her be something that she can appreciate.

With her body refusing to cooperate, her mind is free to wander at the best gifts to give someone who puts an hour on hold when things are in chaos as a thank you present. And, as she starting to perhaps doze off between the spasms in her body, she realizes that they're happening fewer and further apart. And her hands are loosening up. It appears that Richie was right: the symptoms are easing, something that doesn't happen with ALS.

"Rich." No 'i'. Her hand flexes and seems to be in most working order and she sits up from where she'd been half-slouched against him, the movement far easier than it would have been twenty minutes earlier. "My hands. They're working."

Well, they're starting to.

[summertimeblues]

He doesn't feel much like spoiling the atmosphere with mindless jabber. Shocker, yes. That's his literal job, there was no spare air when you had a half-decent DJ on the mike. He could have tried telling her stories or just pulling out sketches he'd used in the past, show off some of those vocal gymnastics and all the best characters he'd ever whipped up.

It simply wasn't the moment for it. It was a moment for silent grips and long drags on a shrinking smoke. It was watching the sky for bad clouds, it was studying the hustle and the bustle of the street. It was simply existing in each other's presence.

She stirs.

He looks to her, to her hands. She's working the fingers crooked and then straight. The twitching is smoothing out.

Richie breaks into a wide grin. Aw hell, a little voicing never hurt nobody.

"Laaahrd Awwmighty, it's a miracle! Puh-raise to Jaysus! Call the papers, Miss Teej's fingers ahr stretching and flexing like the wings of angels!"

[stargatemedic]

In too quiet moments, TJ is often prone to thinking about her past and what's left of her future. With Richie there, she doesn't do either; instead, she sits and enjoys what view there is and just listens to that hustle and bustle to enjoy life as it is. So, when her muscles start cooperating, she's just as shocked as he is.

His smile makes her grin and, amid the pure joy she's feeling, she's really glad that he didn't have to sit there for another hour or two and find out that she was going to be like that for the rest of her life. Instead, this. Good news, just like he'd said.

Bursting into laughter at the voice he pulls from.... she has no idea, but it's uncanny in Not Being Richie, she watches him in delight as he finishes.

"That was amazing," she tells him, still laughing as she rubs her hands slowly together. Turning serious, she looks at him. "Thank you. For not leaving me here to sit by myself."

[summertimeblues]

She's got it back. Control, both fine-tuned and broad. Not a stitch of twitching to be hand in her movements now, and her voice comes through clean from steady grins.

Good. Good good good, that's not a cure (she'd quoted herself as having three years, and with the stops and starts coming at random it can't be said that she won't be stricken ill again soon) but it's back to normalcy. A better prognosis than what the doc would give.

"Why would I? That's outright cruelty." He gives her a friendly nudge, his elbow to her arm, and flicks away the stump of a cig he's been nursing. "And I was on the money, wasn't I? It's just a spell or something. Time's gone to shit all around town. Think nothing of it, all right? I'm just glad to see you make a comeback."

[stargatemedic]

It might be considered outright cruel, but TJ is well aware of the fact that she's going to die alone. She's not afraid of it, she accepts it as fact, but it doesn't stop it from being a harsh truth that sometimes catches her a little more off-guard than she wants to admit. It's in those moments - the ones that just happened - that drive home the knowledge.

"You were." She's not sure what's going on with the time spells in town, but she's now going to be in a perpetual state of worry, wondering if it's going to happen again and just how severe. Her first order of business will be to tell Claire, just so the local doctor knows. So much for keeping her diagnosis under wraps. She feels bad for dragging Richie into it and apologizes to that effect. "I'm sorry you had to, you know. See that." That he felt like he had to stay. "It's just something that's going to happen in a few years and there's nothing I can do."

TJ manages another smile, almost embarrassed. "I'm just glad you had an answer. I appreciate it. I'll tell Dr Fraser about this so someone else can be on the look out, too."