acatalepsy_logs | PHASE TWO of AKVOS (Log #2)

PHASE TWO of AKVOS (Log #2)

I ▫ main	IV ▫ premise			XI ▫ applications	XIV ▫ activity
II ▫ logs	V ▫ rules	VII ▫ bestiary	IX ▫ canon updates	XII ▫ taken	XV ▫ drop/hiatus
III ▫ ooc	VI ▫ faq	VIII ▫ setting	X ▫ mods	XIII ▫ reserves	XVI ▫ players

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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[It's not like Hank planned on floating there right out in the fucking open. He'd planned to get this mermaid somewhere safe - safer, at least - and then hang around at the right distance to stay out of Connor's way but help him out if he starts to run into trouble. But he's just turning away to shove the mermaid under something, where it maybe won't find her, when that light makes him turn around and-]

You son of a bitch.

[He hears himself say it in this faint, surprised voice, and he kind of means it. Connor didn't need to do that, did he? He could have just not, and Hank could have kept on forgetting what Konoha said about Connor being her favorite fucking dog, and that would have been fine.

He knows this is a thing. He knows. He keeps remembering what Konoha said about it. But seeing it- Hank can't get his shit together. The thing hisses and tries to yank its arm away, trying to slip past and around to the easier prey behind him, and Hank knows that's him, he's the prey, but he can't make the static in his brain focus into a picture that's real.

It- well, maybe it won't last long. But Hank knows that when the shit really starts to go down, you don't have 'not long'. If that monster gets past Con- past the- if it gets to Hank, he won't have long to snap out of this and get away from it. He just needs to finish convincing his brain to actually give more of a shit about that than about trying to put some solid ground under his mental metaphorical feet.]

[Connor, in all things, is stubborn. But this tendency realizes itself literally, in the way overlarge teeth sink into shadow and refuse to let go. Jaws clench down hard when the monster tries to yank its arm away, earning it a growl and wrenching pull away, back legs pressed into the creature to gain purchase. Again, faux synthetic “muscle” ripples throughout his body with the effort — he doesn’t quite register what Hank’s even said.

Momentum in water is a tricky thing, though. The exertion sends them into a circular spin, turning up into down, and for a moment all Connor can make out is the shadow caught between his teeth coiling up in his vision. He thinks, for a moment, he catches sight of Hank ogling at him before his vision is obscured again.

Disorienting. Disadvantageous? Hard to say, and only with this millisecond of consideration does Connor release his bite, just so he can snap it back around the creature’s middle. Center mass. Harder to twist them around at a whim.

(He ignores the crawl of something strange along his processing. The loss, by small degrees, of force and energy. The effect of contact with the shadow itself, he knows; the equivalent of tired exhaustion in organic life.

Connor bites down harder to compensate.)]

[In the end, Hank has to sort of trick his way around his own freakout. This is a dream, right? And that's fine. This would be fine in a dream. And unless he wants the dream to turn into a nightmare - more of one - he has to make sure Connor (dog Connor, dream logic, it's fine, it's fine) comes out of this safe. So, hey, rolling ball of dangerous shit, how about Hank introducing a foreign element. The element of his hands, grabbing desperately at - at something, the right thing, he hopes, or maybe both of them at once. Hank uses his hands, and he uses the feeling behind them. It's a dreamy, disconnected feeling, one of limbs held heavy and still behind a layer of static where he - real and in-focus - clashes with the shifting, blurred chaos of the rest of the world. It's like being half-swallowed into a real life version of one of those fucking Bosch paintings, this place, and now that he thinks he's got at least one hand on the thing Hank lets himself sink into it.

He thinks he hears the thing whimper, which - yeah, that's probably cool. That's fine. That's what it was he'd wanted, right?]

[The sensation is all strange darkness in his jaws, the audio rush of furious water, and the sudden grasp of someone — Hank, that’s Hank now in his periphery — clenching fistful of fur. Everything is happening quickly, everything is obscured, and he can’t say that Hank should’ve been long gone by now even if he wanted to, no longer human-shaped and a mouthful of dreadful creature.

Then suddenly static, sluggishness, every external input and output delayed behind some intangible and languorous veil. And then the world around him all in pieces, moving too fast and too chaotic to know what any of it is. The fog of sickening bewilderment. Confused resignation.

Thanks a lot for that, Hank.

His jaw threatens to go slack, and this coupled with the draining power of the monster puts a strain on body and mind as his will fights against it. LED spinning red now, all he knows is that he has to hold on until this thing is dispersed. Paws scrape against something — monster, Hank — but Connor forces himself to not let go.]

[Red. Okay. That red LED snaps Hank out of it a little.

LED colors, by the way? The one design decision about androids Hank is actually okay with. Red means stop. Yellow means slow down. Blue is the other one. Whatever, the other two are so ingrained in Hank that he understands them instinctively, even when it's on a giant goddamn robot wolf because this is his life. Is this his life?

That he's not actually sure about. What he is sure about is that he doesn't want to see Connor die right here in front of him. He wants it bad enough that he's shoving the hand that was, apparently, holding Connor in between the two instead, shoving his arm in that gap, giving the shadow thing an undignified but really solid kick and working as hard as he can to shove Conor away from both of them.]

Get. The fuck. Off of him!

[He's already grabbed the thing once so this time the drain, that slow, sleepy feeling, is easier to notice, but Hank grabs his anger and holds onto it with both hands and if Connor's not gone yet that probably means Hank's wedged between them and Connor's getting some too, a shot of rage, fear underneath clawing at it and jolting it up, up, until he's pulling the thing closer and not caring about the noise it's making, the way it's practically vibrating under his fingers.

Is this better? Whatever. If it gets Connor away from this thing, Hank will take it.]

[They’re pried apart via courtesy of Hank, his jaws loosening their grip as the man pushes him away from the shadow creature. The wake of emotion, dizzying and disorienting, trails behind him like vapor, though already it’s being dismissed by something far stronger — an undulating anger spiked in his chest. Fear creeping along the edges (fear, again, an old friend at this point) and he twists his wolf body in the water, trying to understand what’s happening.

The thing’s screeching fills his ears. Hank is touching it again, but it’s close, too close, one mistimed move and the Lieutenant would be worse off because of him, because he’s trying to protect him, and if that happens Connor wouldn’t be sure how to feel—

One of Hank’s emotions answers that question for him. Angry.

Anger that pushes him forward fiercely, that kicks his body against Hank so he can gain open space at the side of the creature. So he can relentlessly open his massive maw wide and careen teeth and force and wrath down on the monster’s head.

Apparent exhaustion be damned for now.]

[It's a savage move and honestly terrifying to see, even though he sort of knows those gigantic teeth belong to Connor, even though the skull they're crushing isn't a skull and the thing that not-skull belongs to was trying to kill them. Hank's kicking away from the two of them before he knows he's even doing it, eyes wide, heart beating hard, and he's far enough away to see the thing dissolve.

And then it's over.

Hank's body's trying to pant for air but a big part of him still expects, you know, air, and the more freaked he is the worse it usually gets, and Hank knows that. So he tries not to cough too much, tries to straighten his breathing out, and it's not too long before he's able to kind of mostly do it.

Hank stares at the giant fucking thing that just crushed a head right in front of him. He opens his mouth. He closes his mouth.

He tries again. His voice comes out cracking and unsteady, but it does come out.]

Connor? You, uh-

[He swallows, clears his throat.]

You in there?

[The thing dissipates in his teeth, and for a moment Connor is still keeping his jaws clenched down right, reeling, reeling, focused on the wisps of darkness that curl up in his vision, teeth still bared—

But Hank’s voice cuts through the emotional fog, already thinning after he’s put space between them. His LED blinks, circles slowly back into the blue, as he turns his massive head and looks at his friend.

A kick in the water to right himself (mostly useless), a moment to put himself back together (difficult) until he feels more settled. Sluggish still, but without Hank’s power hooked into him.

And then a burst of blue light and he’s changing back, leaving the wolf behind and the RK800 in its stead.]

Hank, I’m— are you all right?

Uh, yeah. Yeah. Um-

[Hank pulls his gaze away from Connor because Connor's normal now, he's back to normal and Hank can just. He can forget about the other stuff now. He looks around instead, taking a deep breath, coughing, swallowing, and kicking off toward the spot he'd stashed the mermaid once he spots it.]

We, uh. We should get her back. Before one of those things, you know.

[He can't stand putting his back to Connor for long though, glances over his shoulder as he swims to the mermaid and again once he starts pulling her out toward him.]

How about you? You, uh... Normal? Fine? Operating under normal, uh... Normal parameters or, or whatever?

[Slow, he feels slow. Like his processing is lagging two steps behind the rest of him, but it’s nothing be alarmed of when he knows the cause: the touch of Hank’s power, mixed with the laborious influence of the shadow monster. A moment, and he’ll be back to normal. A moment, and he can package away the entire experience and bury it with the rest. Seems to be the norm these days.

He makes his way towards Hank, frowning just a little.]

There’s a short recovery period, but I’ll be functioning optimally soon enough.

[He glances at his friend in a scrutinizing way, as if having to confirm himself that he’s all right.]

Here, I’ll carry her. [He’ll to do just that, if Hank’s amiable to it.] Are you… sure you’re fine? I realize what you just saw was likely jarring; I know you’ve avoided asking about what my power is.

[He barks a laugh, reaching back and brushing his hand over the bottle in the pouch around his waist, and feeling a little steadier. Conscious of Connor’s eyes, he tries to turn the motion into tightening the strap of the pouch instead.]

Yeah. Did me a lot of good, didn’t it?

[He frowns at Connor, then eyes the mermaid- she’s not as heavy as she’d be out of water, but still.]

You sure you’re uh, up to carrying her? You said there was uh, a recovery period. From using that whole power thing. Right?

I’m sorry, Lieutenant. But it was necessary.

[Comfort takes a backseat when it comes to safety, when it comes to pulling Hank out of danger and getting rid of these awful creatures.]

Not from the transformation. From contact with the monster itself, and from—

[A pause.]

—your power, too. But it’s as I said, it’s negligible at best. I’ll return to normal soon, and carrying her won’t be as strenuous as you think.

[Hank’s expression tightens. He looks away, lips pressed tight and twisted up. Of course some of that was him.]

Sorry.

[He opens his mouth to say something else - he’s not sure what. Then he coughs a little, clears his throat, and decides to start swimming back.]

Yeah, well. If you need to trade her off to me, let me know.

You don’t need to apologize. It’s fine.

[It’s endlessly unpleasant each time, but it’s fine. It’s necessary. Connor keeps the mermaid steady in his arms, hooking them under her shoulders and tail, then pushing forward with a swim.]

Actually, I... [He wonders if this would be a good time to reiterate a singular point he made once before.] This is a prime example of why I suggested we practice. That when a situation like this presents itself, neither of us would be so caught off guard by the usage of your power when necessary. Do you understand that now?

[Hank frowns, looking more worried than he realizes..]

You weren’t that caught off guard, right? I mean, you killed it. And you said you’d be fine.

[Which in his head Hank knows Connor will be. Connor shook it off before, the nasty, clutching touch of all the shit inside Hank’s head. But the rest of Hank’s maybe not so convinced.]

I hadn’t expected it. I had issue recognizing it at first, and though it wasn’t detrimental this time, who’s to say we’ll be as lucky the next altercation we find ourselves in?

[He doesn’t want to instill guilt, but he wants to make his point clarified in the wake of felling a shadow creature. The two fight each other as he tries to find a middle ground and tweak his rhetoric to match.]

It would be a precaution, nothing more. So that neither of us risk getting hurt.

[Hank thinks about it, troubled, but shakes his head.]

I’ll just be more careful. There’s not enough reason to- you know. Do all that weird shit.

You’re wrong. There is.

[Trying to keep pace with Hank, while keeping his arms occupied with the mermaid, is rather difficult. But he tries, wanting to press his point forward.]

Your ability aided us today. If applied in the right way, it’s a help, not a hindrance. And if nothing else, it gave me extra... motivation near the end.

[Motivation to tear its head off.]

I should thank you for stepping in, actually, because of it. Even if I preferred that you stayed away.

[Hank frowns at him, obviously confused and too distracted by that to think about whether he's going too fast for Connor, tired as he must be, and dragging along the weight of a whole other person like he is. No, Hank's just confused. It's just weird, the one-two punch of framing this bullshit invasive prison of a superpower as a positive thing, and then telling Hank - who's made most of a life out of parking his fat ass right in the middle of situations where angels would fear to tread - that he should have stayed away, for no real apparent reason. Hank takes a couple seconds to get his mind around all of it. He can't argue with the first part, but he can at least ask about the second.]

Yeah, why's that? You said yourself that I helped.

[There’s nothing at all confusing about it to Connor. The ease of his reply is proof of that.]

Because I didn’t want you to get hurt.

So...

[Hank eyes Connor. This slows his swimming down a little - he's really not great at it, still - but at the moment Hank feels like Connor getting a searching, kind of judgemental look is more important than moving fast.]

All that stuff about being partners, and being built to work with humans, that was bullshit, then? I didn't know you guys could lie.

[He slows when Hank slows, and the words are like stones that sink to the pit of his chest, one by one. Connor frowns, looking at Hank, catching his gaze, searching.]

No, that’s not… that’s not how I meant it.

[Hank is confusing, all conflicting words and action. Their last conversation, in which he was doing all he could to avoid working together. The constant questioning of the reasoning why behind Connor’s self-proclaimed friendship with him.

And then this. The term of “partners” being applied as if it were some fundamental truth that Connor’s gone out of his way to shake. His LED flickers with straining thought, before he looks away, vaguely abashed.]

I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to imply that I don’t want to work with you, or that I don’t appreciate or want your aid. It’s not a lie — I do consider us partners.

But I also want you to be safe.

Edited 2018-12-07 14:50 (UTC)

You can be friends with your partner.

[Hank looks where he’s going again. It’s hard swimming without paying attention to it, and he still can’t decide what the fuck to do with his arms.]

That’s how it usually is. But you’ve got to remember, Connor - fuck, I used to give this speech to rookies all the time.

[Hank makes a disgruntled face. That’s weird. It’s a sprinkle of weird on top of the already huge, heaping pile of it. Hank takes a second to shake it off.]

But, uh- You got to remember, partners first. Unless you are actually out to replace me, I’m not someone you have to protect. I’m your backup. When you told me to go, were you thinking I was gonna just haul ass and leave you dealing with that-

[With that nightmare thing, the thing that can’t exist and just dissolves like it never did once you kill it. Hank coughs, then clears his throat.]

Fighting, I mean. Or whatever. All on your own? What kinda partner do you think that’d make me?

[Connor, always having something to say, for a moment has nothing to say at all. You can be friends with your partner, spoken so concisely, like it’s a fundamental, obvious truth. Was that confirmation of it, then? As Connor’s status as a partner and a friend? Something in his chest feels like it’s tightening, even if it makes no sense to be visited with that kind of physical sensation.

He realizes that it’s a lecture, indicative of a mistake made on his part. This would bother him in any other circumstance, unsatisfied with anything short of perfection. But now Connor can only nod, listening, feeling the ebb of appreciation and self-reproach as he continues swimming with the mermaid slung in his arms.]

I understand. And I should apologize, because I don’t wish to give you the impression that I didn’t trust you to protect me or yourself. It was just…

[He was worried, he rushed in, he acted even if it was at his own expense . He did what Connor does best.]

I haven’t seen you in a while, Lieutenant. Finally finding you in person, and being attacked, I was quick to make my priority your safety. Maybe that was a… miscalculation on my part, to not give you your due credit.

[Maybe all the other weird shit around him - inside him, in more than one sense, and boy is Hank not thinking about that - should make the loose thread of Connor's behavior, his statements that don't quite match up, maybe it should all make that feel small and pointless. Maybe being here like this should make his previous attention to whatever mysterious cogs and wheels make Connor's little android insides tick seem about as important as a fart in the wind. But it kind of does the opposite.

It's familiar, the niggling little pull he feels when Connor says something like that, the need to tug on that loose thread and see what might unravel. It's familiar, and- and he likes Connor. God help him. He wants to like Connor. Which makes the urge to push at that mechanical metal outside until he finds something in there - well, still terrible and nerve wracking, but a safer kind of terrible than the stuff that boy is Hank not thinking about. So Hank glances at Connor, his expression searching, and he pushes at Connor, at least verbally, his tone calm and mild, just interested.]

So. Your logic was skewed, that's what you're saying. Because you've been worrying about me.

Edited (a really minor edit i should have made sooner) 2018-12-08 00:40 (UTC)

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