acatalepsy_logs | PHASE TWO of AKVOS (Log #2)

PHASE TWO of AKVOS (Log #2)

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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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[He shrugs.]

Hey, if it's any consolation, I believe you about as much as I believe in anything else around here. Don't take it personal.

[Of Connor's two friends that Hank knows, one is already probably kind of pissed at him. He's pretty sure - without thinking too hard about why - that he'd kind of rather keep the other one from getting all offended on top of that.]

What do you mean "as much as you believe in anything else around here"?

[ Just how deep in denial is this man? ]

[As deep in denial as he can dig, and he's thinking about buying a better shovel.

But not so deep he doesn't know where this line of questioning is going. Hank thinks of Konoha again, realizes the danger of the guy getting all offended hasn't passed, and finds himself rolling his eyes.]

Pretty sure you know what I mean. What the hell do you guys want me to do, start jumping up and down, clapping my hands, 'oh, I do believe in mental breakdowns!'

[He sighs and, since pulling more water in his lungs is a great thing to do while he's thinking about how none of this can be happening, slows down as he coughs. It takes him a second to pull his shit back together, but only a second. Pulling his shit back together gets that defensive tone out of his voice, too, helps him remind himself it shouldn't have been there in the first place. So. That's fine.]

Sorry. Fuck, um- I just, I don't think you're a liar, is all I meant. You've probably never lied a day in your life. It's just, you know.

[He shrugs. Clearly, explaining himself is Hank's specialty.]

[ He’s ready to snap back, a knee-jerk reaction to that tone of Hank’s, but in the same instant that Hank pulls himself together, so too does Arenvald. He does not want to repeat their first meeting, doesn’t want some weird tension hanging between them. Hank is a mystery that Arenvald is not sure he possesses the skill to unravel, but getting under his skin more than he already has is just asking for things to go nowhere.

He breathes out a little laugh, a private joke at his own expense. Hank would be quite surprised to learn of the things Arenvald has done in his relatively short life. ]

It’s a weird situation and it’s easier to believe that none of this is real than it is to believe that it is real?

It's a little more than 'weird'. [He's quiet a couple seconds. Chill out, Hank, he tells himself. He's probably just trying to understand.] But, yeah. Yeah. And it's not just - I've seen what happens when people start believing in their- you know, their shit. It's not pretty. And it's never true. This- It can't-

[His voice cracking over that last word means it's time to stop thinking about it. Losing his shit when he first got here might of been kind of mostly fine because it was in front of Firo, who never seems to give a shit one way or the other. But that was his one freebie.]

I guess coming straight out of a D&D game means all this shit's normal for you but believe me, where I'm from thinkin stuff like this's real means something's really, really wrong.

[Godwilling Arenvald will just take that, because Hank's voice wasn't too steady all the way through that last part, either, and not talking about this anymore would actually be really cool.]

[ He gets it, sort of. Were he not a member of the Scions, were he not someone who came from a world of magic who did battle with gods on the regular, this would all be a lot to swallow. Logically, he understands why Hank would struggle to wrap his head around it.

But at the same time, it’s been months. ]

All this time and you’re still thinking you’re living in some sort of hallucination?

[ Sorry Hank, he’s not leaving it there. ]

[The look Hank gives him is halfway to offended, more than halfway to scared, and he looks ahead of him again, jaw tight, swallowing while he tries to get his shit together. He takes a breath of water and it's impossible and it should be killing him and he takes another, and by the third one he can use his breath full of water to make real human noise again, although the time spent on this particular topic's taking all the hard and steady edge out of a tone that ought to be righteously angry, or at least a little bit annoyed. He'll have to just settle for a tone that's trying too hard, and hope it still gets his point across.]

You think changing everything I know about the world's like boiling a frog? Leave me in here long enough and I'll just forget I'm not cool with it?

[He makes a breathy noise that he'd meant to be a laugh.]

Right. Jesus.

[ There is a lot happening in that look, and a lot more happening in the moments that follow it. Arenvald gets the sense that they’ve touched upon something that goes far deeper than Hank simply living in denial over this particular situation, but he’d be damned if he knows just where the bottom lies.

Quietly, ]

… We can drop it, if you like.

[ If only because he has no idea where to go from here. Out here in the middle of the ocean is no place to push Hank to the breaking point, if he ever even wants to push him that far at all. ]

[The look Hank shoots Arenvald is totally baffled, those words in that order being so unexpected that it takes him a second to figure out that they're serious. Then he looks away again and breathes and tries to go back to not thinking about what it is he's breathing, and after a minute he's almost out of the red. Okay.]

Okay. Right.

[He breathes and makes a noise that this time very nearly does sound actually amused. His voice itself isn't really there yet but, fuck it. progress.]

That's the first time I've heard that in... fuck, a while. Especially since I got to... wherever, out of Detroit. You ever, uh- You ever tried, to, um, tell Connor to drop it? I don't think he knows what that even means.

[ That’s a pretty transparent attempt at changing the subject, but Arenvald already offered to drop it, so he lets it slide without comment. ]

I don’t know that I have, but I’m sure it would work just as well as my telling him to do anything else. Awfully strong-willed, isn’t he?

God, right? I ever meet the guy who designed him I think I'm gonna have a couple questions.

[Hank's quiet briefly, studying Arenvald, then tries for a wry little smile.]

You know, usually if I want someone to drop something I gotta yell a lot more.

[His look's appreciative, his tone still a little unsteady but curious. Letting him off the hook like that, it's weird. But not bad-weird.]

Edited (my shift key's being a butt) 2018-12-26 23:52 (UTC)

[ It comes to him rather suddenly, the advice he'd given Connor all those moons ago when Hank first arrived at the Temple. "Don't force the issue, just be there", and it only now occurs to him that mayhap that really is the best course of action here. Hank only shores up the defenses more when met with a battering ram, but a little understanding seems to have opened something up. ]

I got the feeling I was about to step over a line I ought not to. You've been through enough already.

[Hank purses his lips, looking maybe a little bit embarrassed.]

I don't know, everyone else seems to be handling it okay.

[Then he shrugs, studying Arenvald some more, and smiles faintly.]

But- thanks. I guess you really are a nice guy after all.

One step at a time, yeah? Like you said, I’m used to it, but you’re not. We talked about your powers a bit earlier, so I think that’s a good first step.

[ It’s an acknowledgement of something, in any case. Even if Hank wishes to completely shut himself off, to do nothing to learn how to use his abilities, at least he admits they’re there. Arenvald is going to have to learn to take what he can get when it comes to Hank, to keep tossing out scraps in the hopes that he’ll emerge from whatever fortress he’s got himself locked up in. ]

I’m just trying to be more understanding, I suppose.

[Hank's eyebrows rise. Now that's interesting. Is that Arenvald admitting something about how he used to act?

It's a relief, in any case, to have a chance to ask about something that's not his own shit, to maybe lead the topic away from first steps like Arenvald's about to sit Hank down for some talk fucking therapy - which is the kind of thing that, normally, would get at least a disgusted glare and which just now only got a tired, wary little look.

Good thing there's something else there Hank can latch onto. Thank god for changing the subject.]

More understanding than what?

Than I have been?

[ It’s not really an admission of how he used to be in the distant past, but more an acknowledgement of his more recent shortcomings, especially when it comes to dealing with Hank. ]

I dunno. You’ve got a different way of dealing with things, is all.

[Hank thinks about whether to push that, try to find out exactly what Arenvald thinks about his own part in their little... their little whatever. But he doesn’t care that much, not enough to risk digging it up again. Arenvald knows he used to come off all holier than thou, Hank told him that already, and they’re all truced up now so who cares? The subject’s been successfully switched and it feels like some of the pressure’s off Hank, so he can let it drop.]

Never met anyone like me, huh? I don’t know if I should be proud of that or not.

I do come from a world with dragons and snake people and all sorts of things, and you’ve still thrown me for a loop. Count it as an accomplishment.

[ It’s a bit of a joke. At the end of the day, Hank is still just a person – a person deep, deep in denial and with more issues than Arenvald rightfully knows what to do with – so he’s not terribly surprising. Just a bit… difficult. ]

[A corner of his mouth quirks up and his voice goes dry.]

That’s the only kind of accomplishment I’m gonna get down here, so I guess I gotta take it.

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PHASE TWO of AKVOS (Log #2)

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