❪ event ❫ THE DESCENT: PART ONE.

[natha]

THE PROLOGUE     Your sleep on the night of the 15th is not a restful one, unfortunately. It’s unclear whether you are in a state of half-wakefulness, or dreaming. The voices you hear certainly sound very real. What is it, Sael? —Is everyone asleep?! Every one, yes. Sael, it appears you do not have good news to deliver...? N-No! I don’t know how it slipped past us, but there’s something powerful coming this way. Something hostile. I can barely keep the core systems online! ... I don't know what to do... I see... and we cannot protect Thesa and Alria in addition to transferring the Refugees to Olympia. This force, they waited for this moment. They knew I have been Intervening, and that I have become weak from such Interventions— ... We've been had. It cannot be helped. To save the Refugees on the Stations, we must eject the awoken unto El Nysa. My remaining energy shall go into shielding Thesa— left defenseless, every being we have saved on this station will perish... Sael, where is the ideal location for the landing? Hmm. There aren’t any people within a ten mile radius of The Outlook, and there shouldn’t be any for a few more days. I think that’s the best location right now. Very well. Instruct Zasere and Roman to begin preparations for an emergency eject. This is the only way we can save everyone. I am counting on you to ward off the enemy on the space front. The rest... is up to our Refugees. The alarms are blaring. It shouts against your eardrums, calling you to wake again. This time, you are in new pod, strapped down completely and cushioned tightly against the walls. In truth, you had no idea when you’d gone to sleep, but it is reminiscent of when you had been saved from the force of the Storm. A voice greets you when you come to, while the conversation between Darma and Sael is still fresh on your mind. Despite their voices playing like an old tune in your memory, you still know it is something that happened. Something has gone terribly wrong. You hear Darma speak, her voice loud in your head. Fellow Refugee, I wake you with regrettable news. A force equal to our own is attempting to engage Thesa, no doubt to steal the souls contained here. My energy is near depleted with this last Intervention, so I cannot send you to the grounds safely as originally intended. However, there is hope yet.This power shall instead shield Thesa and Alria — and believe in me when I swear no one shall be hurt. Your loved ones are safe with us. —Unfortunately, that is at your expense. Your descent will not be an easy one. This pod that contains you shall pierce through El Nysa's atmosphere and land you on an island west of Olympia, simply called The Outlook. Travel east. Find the West Outpost, then continue east until you find the Olympian North Gate. There is a method to this madness. You shall be sent in waves. The inhumanly strong shall be first. The parachute will soften the landing, but I am aware of all your capabilities. The first wave will survive the drop, and will work tirelessly to secure the others. Find your bearings, and ensure the safety of the second wave. They are the healers and medics. Catch their pods, ease their landings, make certain that they shall not be harmed, because you will need them for your wounds. The third wave are your strongmen. They shall help clear the debris and take people to safety, making way for the fourth wave, those can conjure magic to help. Bring everyone to a safe distance. A supply drop will follow soon after; it shall contain tents and tools that will be useful for the long night. The fifth and sixth waves are largely vulnerable humans. With your combined efforts, you shall survive this great misfortune. Forgive us, Refugee. Leave the Moons to us, my promise to you is still in tact— focus on what you can do for others like you. Helping at least two (2) Refugees will earn you one (1) Natha REP. Threads must be AC length to qualify, and can be submitted HERE by JULY 31st. THE DESCENT     FIRST WAVE. The instructions are clear. Those who are a part of the First Wave should be equipped with physical strength and fortitude to survive the drop or the power to regenerate and heal their own wounds. While the pods are already designed to cushion some of the impact, as this is the first group, it will likely to be the most jarring. In all of the waves, some of the pods will malfunction and offer no cushion at all. They will be expected to quickly find their bearings. Their mission isn’t simply just landing, after all. The first wave will be expected to help the next wave, and the wave after that. Whether through their abilities or brute strength, they will be expected to help soften the landing for those who are falling. They will also be expected to pry open hatches, carry people to safety, and to just... survive. It’s not always easy being first. SECOND WAVE. Within the next hour, it’s time for the Second Wave to make their descent. You were selected based upon your aptitude for healing and/or being able to administer first aid. Perhaps you can help the tired and weary. Maybe those who have landed have have strength, but no stamina. Either way, it may be unwise to exhaust all their abilities at once. The night is long, and you may want to conserve their energy for the next waves to come. At least you’ll have help in getting settled. THIRD WAVE. Akin to the First Wave, the Third Wave will possess some durability, and some manner of strength, making you a reliable ally. Especially in a time of crisis... Or so we hope. While the landing is tough, and some of you may need first aid. As soon as you’re all healed up, you’ll have no time to dawdle. Your help is required. “Please help those still trapped in pods. Carry those unconscious to safety. Lift debris, and rescue all you can.” May be a vague message still stuck in the back of your head. Something whispered to you while you were just waking. Well, might as well roll with it. It’s the best shot you have, after all. FOURTH WAVE. Those in the Fourth Wave, as Darma projects, were selected due to the versatility of their abilities. No one expects one man to do the same as the next. Rather, that’s precisely the point: to be different. To be able to accomplish something unique. While one individual may be blessed with powers that assist in putting out fires, another may have the ability to shield those from oncoming debris. Maybe one even has the ability to channel all of these. Regardless, it’s up to you and your quick wits to see what tasks are open. It’ll take some coordination, especially as there are more people mixing into the fray, but, you can do it, can’t you? FIFTH WAVE. If you are in the Fifth Wave it is likely that you have a specific power or ability. One that isn’t easily channeled or called upon. Or, perhaps, you were merely placed here for insurance. Whatever the case if, your expertise will presently be put to the test. Maybe you’re quite proficient in survival skills, and you’re already eyeing the supplies that were dropped between the Fourth Wave and now. Goods all ready to be salvaged. Okay, maybe some can’t, but as they say, “it’s the thought that counts.” Besides, the injured from earlier certainly need a space to rest, and camp isn’t going to make itself. Regardless, maybe you feel more comfortable joining in the efforts to assist those who still require it. Whatever it is, you are sure to find your place and use. Darma obviously held the same faith. FINAL WAVE. The Final Wave is fortunate in a variety of ways. With Thesa Station a bit more stabilized, Darma utilizes the last bit of her powers in insuring that these last remaining pods are met with the softest landing, right beside the fifth, that is. The fragility of life is nothing she is unfamiliar with, after all. Still, that isn’t to say nothing is expected of you. Most of the individuals that have dropped earlier will likely be exhausted. An hour stretched between each one, makes several hours for the first couple of waves. They'll need a place to relax. You will act as the final group of helpers. Settle into whatever role feels best for you. Are you an excellent cook? Great at rationing supplies? Perhaps, you have a secret skill in ______ that might come in handy here? Or, maybe, despite the gentler landing you still managed to get hurt. The sky's the limit, and you got this! Meanwhile, in the distant kingdom of Olympia, the Empress and her loyal subject discuss matters late into the night... I’ll have the results of that dragon toxin study ready for you soon, Your Highness. I just need a few helpers to— oh wow, is that a meteor shower? Oh yes, it appears so. How beautiful.. hehe. Let us thank Thesa for this blessing. GATHER YOUR BEARINGS     All in all, the descent lasts for nearly seven hours. After the deployment of the last wave of refugees, it’s only natural that you may be feeling pretty worn out. A. Within the remains of the pods, Refugees will find basic camping supplies such as small tents, sleeping bags, and compasses. Not all of the supplies remain intact, thanks to the impact of the crash. But, sharing resources will ensure there is enough for everyone to rest for the night. Can you really in good conscience leave that stranger next to you without shelter? B. Although you may be tired after such a life-threatening ordeal, there is still work to be done to ensure your survival. Fortunately, it works out because now there are plenty of empty hands. There are stray debris and metal parts that should be collected and disposed of. There's firewood that needs to be collected, and campfires to upkeep. The nights in the Outlook are particularly chilly, and so it will be imperative to keep warm! C. Your clothes are tattered or too bloodied to sleep on with comfortably. Fortunately, Darma thought ahead. There will be various types of clothing provided, mostly robes that resemble her own in earthy tones, all to help them camouflage you for your next big adventure. FINAL OOC NOTE     This INTRO event will be broken up into three parts! Please keep this in mind when plotting your threads/tag load. PART 2 will be posted on JULY 18TH and PART 3 on JULY 22ND, at 6 PM EST. In the event of CAPTCHA, we will be providing an overflow. In the event of a second CAPTCHA, players are advised to move threads to an overflow post on their character journals. These threads remain eligible for AC, AC Rewards, and REP. The NETWORK is currently down, as Sael must concentrate all of his efforts on warding off the invading force. Characters may still message each other's personal IC inboxes. Submit two (2) AC-eligible threads from this log for one (1) Natha Orbiter REP point here by JULY 31ST. Recommended Listening: Alex & TOKYO Rose QUICK NAV premise ● faq ● world ● map ● reputation ● npcs taken ● reserves ● application calendar ● hiatus/drops ● modbox [ FULL NAVIGATION ] elnysa nysalogs nysaisles nysaooc elnyan

Comments

[earthy]

[Look at him perk right back up again.

'It isn't necessary,' she says.

'It might be,' he almost counters, in what most likely would have been a voice tinged with desperation, 'A little.'

Terra briefly considers reassuring her that if she truly doesn't want or need protection, he'll scram, but... concern's probably going to have him trailing after her either way. At least until he's confident she can hold her own.

Besides, who says he can't multitask, slow down pods and open hatches and shield his new healer-esque acquaintance all at the same time?]

All right.

[All right, you've temporarily acquired one German shepherd puppy in a man's body... in a suit of armor. But he will guard you so vigorously, fair and long-eared maiden, just you watch him.]

I'm Terra. What's your name?

[If he's secured permission to hover, might as well exchange names.]

[adelphoi]

[ she knew it, too, the moment she refused to give him a hard no, that he'd leap right on the 'if you insist' clause. she'd known it, and yet she'd said it anyway, and sentenced herself to dogsitting for the forseeable future.

nothing to do for it now, there's no losing this enormous armored doggo. so she turns away and squints into the distance, using her hella good wildwood elezen eyesight to survey the area and decide that west is the way to go, for now. all of the fallen pods seem to have dropped in more-or-less the same general area, so.. away from that is probably the best course, for now. even though she may very well simply dive right back in to start helping people, anyway. no better way to shake the puppy, though, than to assure him that she's safe, apparently. ]

Alisaie Leveilleur.

[ good luck with the french elf tongue twister, she's already off walking in a general westish direction.

please don't call her a fair long-eared maiden out loud, unless you want your teeth punched to the back of your throat maybe. ]

[earthy]

[Oh. Sounds like she's one of those people with two names.]

Ali...saie... Le... [Two tricky names.

Terra hefts his Keyblade up and hooks it over his shoulder then dutifully follows after her.]

... You don't happen to have a nickname, do you?

[Also, duly noted. He quite likes his teeth right where they are now.]

[adelphoi]

[ yeah it's a lot to remember, the two names thing, huh. ]

Nickname..?

[ right, she supposes it's probably a mouthful. ]

No, I don't. Just Alisaie is fine.

[ she pronounces it a little more slowly this time, for his benefit. allie-zay. simple, right? ]

[earthy]

[It's so much easier when everyone just has one name, and maybe a title, or if they do have a surname it's just the name of their species, and magically no one in the universe ever shares the same name.

Barring the occasional identity thief.

And the occasional asshole trying to make it so that exactly thirteen people end up with the same name.]

Alisaie.

[Simple enough. He appreciates being allowed to call her by just one of her names, though he'd have made the effort to use both if she'd asked him to. You never know what kind of customs people from other worlds might have.]

So, what did you mean when you said you had some ability in healing?

[adelphoi]

[ he repeats it again and doesn't seem to butcher it, so she's content. you can just forget that she even has a second name at all that isn't something easy like 'mouse' or 'duck'. ]

Well.. I meant just that.

[ she gestures, vaguely, to the crystal at her hip. ]

I'm a red mage, so I'm able to use both black and white magics. Admittedly my skill with the latter is.. less than stellar, but decent enough that the natha saw fit to ask me to utilize it, I suppose.

[ she shrugs. ]

And I've got a handful of potions and experience with first aid, so.

[earthy]

[She's a mage. A red mage.

... What's a red mage?

Maybe a mage that specializes in Fire magic?

He'd ask but what she goes on to say after she informs him she's a mage is... immensely more interesting to him.]

Black and white magics...? [Yeah.] You must be talking about darkness and light?

[Did she just admit to being more skilled at using darkness than light? Is her heart darkness, too?

(Maybe somewhere in his Master's vast library there was a book detailing some bygone era or some faraway dimension where magic was classified as black or white.

But rest assured Terra never laid hands on that book, if it did exist... and now never will since his homeworld's been twice cast into darkness.)]

[adelphoi]

Well.. no. Yes?

[ it's a bit more complicated than that. alisaie's steps slow as she thinks, trying to herd the words around in her mind; she's never quite had the gift for speech that her brother does. ]

It's simply a way to classify magics - white magic is for healing and support, black magic is offensive, though even that is not entirely correct.. white magic comes from the land, the aether of the natural world. Black is a little more unstable and destructive.

[ it's not entirely easy to explain, if her expression is any indication, but she's doing her best here. ]

Light and dark are a bit different, but.. I suppose there's something of a correlation, sure.

[earthy]

[No? Yes? Terra stares after her, trying to follow what she's saying.

Something of a correlation...

It's not what he thought it was. That much is clear, at least. She's not referring to the elements of light and darkness. (Which is... a shame? A relief? He's not going to think about what it is to him. What it is or what it should be.) It almost sounds like all the magic in her world was tied to either the light or the darkness. Except, no, that's not it, either. A classification system... and then light and darkness behave similarly to how they classify white and black spells?

He imagines one of his friends would probably understand the explanation, if she were the one awake and seeing Alisaie out of harm's reach instead of him.]

We didn't classify magic in my world. [Worlds. He looks away... and happens to spot a wriggling movement on the ground nearby. He puts his hovering on hold a second to check it out, veering away and stopping near a clump of grass.]

It was just elements and spells. Fire and Blizzard, Thunder... [Terra stoops down, brushes some of the grass aside, and finds himself peering at a... wounded rabbit.] Cure.

[He starts to tip his Keyblade up only to pause, lower it again, and call out to Alisaie.]

Think you could patch up a rabbit?

[adelphoi]

[ it must be difficult enough to comprehend when you're not familiar with it; alisaie has been around magic for as long as she can remember, and she's also kind of a child prodigy so she's cheating with her smarts.

when he goes on to list the spells he's familiar with, however, she nods fervently, eyes bright. ]

Yes! Those are -

[ she's going to say the same as what i know, when he's.. kneeling to uncover an injured rabbit. it's clear enough that she's mildly surprised by his question. ]

Well yes, I could. But it'd be wiser to put it out of its misery and roast it for supper.

[ LET'S KILL IT ]

[earthy]

[NOT TODAY RABBIT ROASTER

Terra's head snaps up and one can safely assume his expression under the helmet is just aghast.

Like how could you say that??? right in earshot of the poor rabbit, no less!!! you could have at least whispered or warned me to cover its ears or something!!!

Terra follows through with the halted motion of pointing his Keyblade up and out. A greenish light surrounds the bunny, the image of a flower blossoming flashes above it, and then bibbidi-bobbidi-boo, its injuries heal right up.

Before the rabbit comes to its senses and dashes off to get itself pulverized again, Terra scoops it up with his free hand and tucks it protectively against his breast plate. This is his charge now.

His other charge, anyway.

Casually collects long-eared charges.]

I'm going to take it to the woods.

[Many hours from now, exhausted and hungry, he'll see the wisdom in her idea. But totally Affronted at present.]

[adelphoi]

[ she has no idea what his face looks like but it must be similar to thunderstruck considering his body language. the expression she gives in return is, of course, complete surprise.

what did she do?? she does not live in disney world(s) terra if you wanna eat sometimes you have to roast a rabbit.

but of course, he heals the thing himself with a showy little spell, and she can't help buy sigh loudly, audibly, and shake her head, palms out as if to say you can't be helped. ]

Suit yourself. When your stomach is trying to devour itself later, you'll be wishing you had skinned that rabbit.

[ those pods had viewports after all, there's no civilization anywhere near enough to get to in one night. he's gonna suffer. ]

Go on, then, I'll go the rest of the way on my own.

[earthy]

[He's gonna suffer mightily and give her boyfriend a little scare in the process.

Terra hesitates when she announces she'll go the rest of the way on her own, but then the rabbit's squirming and kicking and he's forced to reluctantly nod. The sooner he can get this rabbit into the forest, the better.]

... All right. Be careful, Alisaie. I'll see you later.

[And off The Bunny Saver runs, his bunny-saving cape billowing majestically out behind him.

True to his word, she'll probably see him later, keeping an eye on her from afar. If she notices him watching and he notices she's noticed he's watching, he'll raise his hand in a friendly wave.

Yeah, she's right: he really can't be helped at all.]