the tides shift.Darkness has begun to spread, rapidly, throughout the entirety of Akvos. Different areas of the Kingdom are plagued by different instances of terror, but one thing remains clear: the Circle does have the available tools to help . . . of sorts. Many of you have discovered different areas of Akvos to focus on, but by and large? There are no shortage of people to help, of people to fight, and of creatures to save. Hurry quickly, Circle members. Akvos needs your aid.  SHADOWS IN THE DARK.Shadow creatures have begun to multiple en masse in the Depths of Markolos, and are spreading to every which corner of Akvos. They will be at their highest density in the Depths, and take the form of terrifying creatures with massive claws and gnashing teeth. They seem to be impervious to non-magical damage, so some unique tag-team action may be necessary in order to actually kill the things.
As the monsters multiply, mermaids from across Akvos will fall prey to their attacks, drifting listlessly in the currents of the sea as they fall unconscious, the life-force drained from them by a shadow creature. In order to wake them again, the shadow creature that drained them of their energy must be killed. Act quickly, and you may be able to rally the native forces necessary to stage a proper fight back. But the more you fight, the more exhausted you begin to get.
Those who cannot fight will not find themselves of a shortage of ways to help, though. Shelters are being set up within the Palace of Wahine, a fortress unto itself. Children are corralled there, the injured are kept in the impromptu hospital beds that are guarded by the Royal Guard that are still conscious from the onslaught. They will desperately accept help to care for the children whose parents are unconscious, or to console parents who have lost their children in the mayhem of the sudden attack upon their city.
Food still needs to be gathered, supplies still need to be run from door to door. People need to be evacuated. And from each area of Akvos, there are "runners" of powerful merfolk who have set up caravans drawn by dolphins to quickly whisk people from place to place. Each caravan is under threat of attack from shadows, though -- sign up for the evacuation committee, keep your heads down, and fight back as much as you can to protect these people from whatever the hell is going on.  THE SEVEN SEAS OF WHY.In addition to the shadow creatures, each area is plagued by a different onslaught of dark magic. Each area has different needs, and each area will require your attention. Focus your energies where able, and do your best to stem the flow of chaos before it is too late. (Check here for a breakdown of types of effective magic.)
The Palace of Wahine is facing an onset of red algae, blooming through the alleyways and infecting mermaids rushing to seek cover. Inhaling the algae doesn't seem to do much to you, in small doses, but it causes violent coughing fits with the mermaids, preventing them from breathing properly underwater. Getting into contact with the red algae will turn your own skin a brilliant shade of pink, and it will cause it to itch uncontrollably (something that is, apparently, impossible to alleviate under the water). It will wear off within a few hours, but the same does not hold true for the mermaids. The healers in the community say that certain herbs in the Fields of Akvosia can be harvested in order to help cure the illness, but they are notoriously hard to find . . . and in the middle of the sharpest parts of the coral reef, naturally. Tread carefully, and be careful not to anger the shadow creatures in your quest.
The Depths of Markolos is the hotbed of chaos, and seems to be where the majority of the shadow monsters are lurking. In addition to the shadow monsters, ice is cascading out of control from the western wall of the depths. Melting it will do the trick, or controlling it to move it out of the way, but it seems to persist. Some of you may find your way to the far back wall, to discover what appears to be the source of whatever this ice seems to be . . . but it will be tough going, and will require some teamwork to make it there. The ice, too, seems to fight back against your forces, and may curl its way around your legs, your legs, to freeze you into place. Hopefully you have a buddy that can get you out of there, before you become a frozen popsicle under the sea.
The Fields of Akvosia's beautiful coral reef is quickly dying, and the mermaids are working as hard as they can to curb the death by harvesting the essential food sources they can before it is too late. Schools of fish desperately flock from reef to reef in search of shelter and food, and soon meet their demise the moment they settle in to a new habitat. Working to cure and reinvigorate the coral reef will be met with great relief from the merfolk, who are desperately trying to cure what they can. Beware the shadow monsters, here, and be on the hunt for herbs that can assist the merfolk falling ill in the Palace of Wahine. Caravans of dolphin-pulled carriages will be whipping by to refill supplies, too -- jump in and help guard them on their way back to civilization.
The Thunderdome has a fresh stock of weaponry that is particularly effective against the shadow monsters, electrified with old runes that the merfolk will happily give to the Circle free of charge to fight back against the monsters. In addition, the jellyfish of the Thunderdome are darkening at a rapid pace. Electricity seems to do the trick in reinvigorating them, but touching them will still turn you a brilliant shade of blue . . . so tread lightly, in that regard. The electrified weapons will do the trick to jab the jellyfish into feeble light in addition to magic already gifted by Astoria, but the mermaids are a bit busy trying to fight off the shadows that are growing increasingly prevalent in the Thunderdome. Help wanted?  THE WHISPERS OF KEA.Throughout the duration of this battle, investigations taking place by members of the Circle will begin to unveil certain . . . clues. The Princess is still missing, but members of the Circle are getting close to unlocking where she is. King Kathashun, at the beginning of this journey, indicated that she was the key to stopping all of this, and while most of you have no idea who that guy is, he seems to be genuine. (Right? Right.)
But where is she? The Queen is unavailable, for the duration of this event, and who knows where this mysterious "King." is. But as the Circle battles for the life of Akvos, certain messages begin to pop up through your magical watches. Riddles, if you will -- pleas of assistance, begin to trickle through, popping up on your watches in a series of nonsensical words.
The only problem is that the messages seem to be all scrambled up.
lktmohidionl.
hsdpepelgnyeiaior.
herywaeoleeahhthpyveneto.
ehdtetirviarcaeshrasmaohmitnrn Additionally, please feel free to write up and work with your own prompts! These are presented as jumping off points for your characters, not limitations. The idea of this world- as with all the others- is to explore. If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask them back on the various threads back in the OOC post from before! NOTE: The Princess' messages will unlock a hint to their meaning (if they aren't solved by the time this happens) once this log hits over 750 comments. :) We are pretty sure this will happen well before the End Log for Akvos happens in January, so we won't be putting a time limit on it. ;) Have fun! |
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acatalepsy_logs2018-12-03 11:47 am
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Metal doesn't exactly float, y'know? But trust me, it's not all it's cracked up to be.
[ He'd give anything to be able to swim around like everyone else, but the grass is always greener and all. ]
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[He sticks out a foot sort of nearish the guy and then, grimacing, pulls it back toward himself.]
Wait. Fuck. Don't.
[He sighs, looking up at the ceiling and pursing his lips. His power sucks. Being underwater sucks. Kids in comas? Also sucks. He'll just float here forever and think about how everything just sucks.]
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C'mon, it's nothing. I'll pull you back down.
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[Hank's options:
-Face the fact that feeling shitty makes something he already dreads harder and then explain his "powers" anyway, like an adult. Like a responsible person. Like a fifty three year old human fucking being.
-don't
He's not proud to admit - at least to himself - that he doesn't actually think those options over. It's actually a pretty easy choice.]
I just uh, realized it's fresher up here. You know, fresh air. Water. Fresh sea water. Must be terrible, havin to, uh... stick to the ground, just like normal. Walk around with your feet. Know exactly where you're about to go at all times.
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[ It's not a terribly convincing response, but it seems like a pretty stupid thing to push regardless. Hank struck him as an oddball before; 9S figures he's just typically this way. ]
Still, it's not exactly easy to walk normally underwater. The water resistance is too much, so it'd honestly be way faster to get around if I could swim like the rest of you. [ He does tilt his head in consideration, though. ] ... Buuut I'll admit, it's good to know I won't be squishing my face against the ceiling anytime soon.
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[He says it in a casual, if kind of frustrated, way, pushing himself off from a wall and landing pretty near the ground - and then, torturously, finding he can't really stand on it properly. Which, you know, of course. But. It sucks.
He hurries up and takes a drink. He should get in what he can before he has to start fighting with the stupid water again.]
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But seriously—what're you doing floating around out here?
[ Aside from... really trying to chug down what he's got in that flask. ]
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What, don’t you need a break from the...
[He waves a hand toward the shelter and everything in it, floundering for a moment in an effort to think of how to describe it.]
The hospital shit? All the, uh... Well, I can’t be the only one who needs a fuckin minute.
[He hunches his shoulders, defensive, taking a brief drink and pointing the end of the bottle at the guy.]
Besides, I’m not the only one out here where I shouldn’t be.
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[ Called out, but Hank has a point. ]
I was just passing through, more than anything else. Are you getting tired?
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[Hank grins, not sounding particularly amused.]
Cause no matter what you’re about to say the answer’s probably, fuck yeah. Shit.
[He grimaces down his feet. Well, not floating was nice for the two seconds it lasted.]
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I was thinking of how hectic it's gotten– [ With, yanno, fighting monsters and hustling everyone to safety and everything that's been coming with this. ] –but everything here's been a hassle since day one, huh.
[ Which probably comes off as a rather flippant thing to say in the current circumstances. ]
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[Flippant is fine. Flippant is one hundred percent Hank's speed. It's better than being not flippant, which would risk dragging Hank down into a mood he really can't afford right now.]
But you don't have to breathe do you, you lucky bastard, so I guess that's not what you're talking about.
[The breathing water thing, that's what's been getting Hank from day one. All the other weird shit is like really terrible window dressing in comparison.]
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[ 9S' nose wrinkles in distaste, like now that it's on his mind again, the salt hits even harder. ]
And I feel like something's definitely gonna be rusted over by the time we get out of here.
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Shit, I didn't think I'd hear anything actually funny today. Thanks. Hope that something comes with rust-proofing, or you're gonna be in for a hard time.
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Yeah, no kidding! I'd be less worried if Astoria would at least keep some spare parts lying around, but I haven't been able to find anything.
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[Hank takes a second to think about that. It's honestly never occurred to him before.]
There's no like... Room full of plastic arms and legs or something, not even back in the temple? That's kind of weird, given how many robots got pulled into this Alice in Wonderland bullshit.
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I'm going to bet she didn't exactly plan for that, but then again, she doesn't strike me as the type who puts a lot of thought into "thinking ahead" to begin with.
[ Bitter? Just a little. ]
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[Hank presses his hand against the wall, trying to make himself go further down so meeting the guy's - well, his blindfold - will be a little less awkward.]
What makes you say that? It's kind of hard to learn anything about her, it's not like she gets out much.
[As if Hank's had enough of his shit together to even think about looking into the woman behind all this terrible fucking shit. But nevermind that part. If this guy knows more than he does, yeah, Hank can manage to be curious long enough to ask about that.]
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[ Y'know, to put it lightly. 9S folds both arms over his chest, gently falling back onto the wall with a tired posture. ]
She brings people in involuntarily to a totally bare-bones base of operations, rarely makes herself seen or heard, and can't even bother to give us any sort of mission briefing before sending us off to the next place.
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Well shit, she's not the only one who coulda handled this better. But I see what you mean. Anyone asked her about spare parts yet? Maybe there's some weird shit she can magic up and no one's asked the right way.
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Well, I guess... [ He trails off with reluctance in his voice; the kind that implies "you're right but I wish you weren't", because when you're spiteful towards someone, you don't quite want to ask for their help. There's another moment of silence before 9S quickly tacks on: ] I'll worry about that if there's an actual problem. So far there hasn't been, at least.
[ Even if that can only last for so long. ]
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[But not just his, Hank's stupid brain points out, stupidly. If there's no way to repair this particular robot, there's no way to repair certain others either, if anything happens. And the day that something does Hank is going to remember this conversation, and remember knowing exactly how much he's going to try to do about it.]
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Fine, I'll look into it once we get back. Better?
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[Hank spreads his hands, a little smile touching at one corner of his mouth.]
Well, I kinda was. But. Not just you. So she, uh. Lets anyone talk to her? I never really looked into talking to the grand magic poobah all that much, you know. Kind of the last thing I wanted to do.
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So I hear, despite how quiet she'd been for a while there. I've been told she can be contacted via our watches, but I've never had a reason to try, either.
[ 9S is well aware he won't get the answers he wants out of her to begin with, and he wasn't interested in pleasantries. It would be a pointless conversation at best. ]
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