acatalepsy_logs | PHASE 3: AKVOS: THE END.

PHASE 3: AKVOS: THE END.

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the great escape.

The Circle has quite a lot on their plate, this time around. Multiple players are fighting for the control of Akvos, and many difficult choices to make. No matter what path you choose, though, one thing is for certain: it is a bitter fight to the death to ensure that Akvos remains standing, one way or another.

There are three main areas for the characters to explore in the final log of Akvos: (1) The Kingdom of Akvos, where the King is fighting to seize control; (2) The Rift, where the characters will encounter the Dreamscapes; and (3) The Kingdom of Polankos, which is where King Ka'pouli has reigned since his arrival in the pocket dimension. Decisions made in all there areas will affect the outcome of Akvos, so get to exploring.

THE ASSAULT ON WAHINE.

The King’s forces will attack in three different fronts. There will be mermen attacking from above, riding saddled giant seahorses and manta rays, launching spears at the mermaid-warriors below with terrifying precision. They seem to be indiscriminate, in their aim -- the weaponry, charged with the same dark energy that the shadow creatures seem to be made out of, find their target in civilians and warriors alike, raining down a sea of terror upon the central stronghold of the Kingdom of Akvos.

The mermen will also be attacking at the ground-level, attempting to burst their way through the Palace Gates to flood the city with numbers. While the mermaids outnumber the mermen, the mermen are certainly more brutal than the mermaids. Some of them, though, in finding the city, are more concerned with looting it than with senselessly murdering everyone inside. Indeed, this is the most food they have seen in a long time -- and markets are destroyed in grabbing as much food and riches as they can, pressing closer to the Palace, and toward the Queen's stronghold.

And, finally, they will be attacking from below, navigating their way through a network of tunnels meant to transport goods and bursting their way into people’s homes, to sneak their way closer to their ultimate goal, which seems to be the Palace itself.

The Circle's main goal, here, is to protect civilians, usher theminto the underground strongholds beneath the Palace, and fight for their own lives should they attack the mermen first. Man the wall, if you so choose, to attempt to block the air attacks from the mantas. Fight on the ground, to protect Akvos from destruction. Or make your way to the underground strongholds and tunnels, to block access to the Palace. All of these will certainly assist in keeping Akvos safe.

In addition, please remember that shadow creatures (which can only be killed by magical means) are still making their way through the entirety of Akvos. While King Ka'pouli's forces are targeting the Palace of Wahine, the shadow creatures are still present everywhere. Get to killing!

INTO THE RIFT.

Some of you, however, have elected to traverse into the mysterious rift that appeared in the midst of the Fields of Akvosia. It looks like a black hole into nothingness, crackling with odd energy . . . and passing through it feels as though you have stepped through an icy waterfall. For a moment, you cannot breathe -- and then, you are treated to beauty.

The gaps between time and space are full of sparkling lights, bolts of rainbow starlight winding around you as you move through the uncertainty that is the void. It seems endless, but something inside you is tugging you forward . . . and, suddenly, there is a soft voice in your ear. A familiar one, to those who reside within the Circle . . . the confused voice of Astoria.

"Hello? My Travelers? How are you within the Void?" The Void? That word hadn't been used to describe whatever this magical place is before, but . . . well, a witch with the ability to send you all across the universe probably knows what she's talking about, right? "That should not be possible . . . who opened this doorway?"

You can tell her, or you can not. It seems to matter not, because: "Is this not getting through? Why can I not hear you . . . but I can feel you, I can -- please, if you can hear this, be careful. The Void is not something for mortals to interact with, and it can show you terrible things -- terrible things, so please--"

And, right before you have the opportunity to respond to our benevolent witch (or captor, depending on your point of view), you see a bizarre glass-like surface in front of you. It looks like a mirror, and you see a perfect reflection of yourself. It is absolutely captivating, and it beckons you . . . almost urging you to touch it. And Astoria's whisper grows a bit louder, more urgent:

"My dear Traveler, be careful what you encounter here -- can you hear me? Can you see me? I am trying to get you out of there, to bring you back home--Akvos is--"

But it is too late.

Your fingers graze the edge of the mirror, and you are pulled -- a sensation that is familiar to you, the same pull in your stomach that you feel whenever Astoria thrusts you across the universe, into new realities. And, when you blink your eyes again, and look around . . . you are no longer in Akvos, or the Void. You are somewhere entirely new.

Welcome to the Dreamscape.

THE KINGDOM OF POLANKOS.

Once the Circle emerges from the Rift and the Dreamscape, they will stumble into another world . . . but this one's wateris shallow, in comparison to the massive depths of the crystal-clear kingdom of Akvos. You can quite clearly see the surface, here, and there are shallows that allow you to come up onto islands, tropical in nature with fruit, odd creatures that appear to be multiple-headed monkeys and parrots, and sandy shores. It's a bit jarring to see, after spending so long underwater. Indeed, you emerge to trudge onto land, and look around, somewhat mystified that the deep-dwelling mermen would be from a place like this.

However, exploring the islands (which is not very difficult to do, as they are all small and will not take very much time) will yield the discovery that on the islands themselves are tunnels -- underwater caverns that thread through the islands to much deeper water. It's almost as if the islands themselves are barriers to the underwater caverns below -- shallow water, a layer of land, and then a (mer)man-made bubble of water below the barrier of land. And that whoever lived on these islands tunneled through them to find deeper water. Princess Kea, (who will attend on these journeys, while remaining in the water), will tell the Circle members that King Ka'pouli told her that when the mermen were cast out, they landed on solid land, and had to slowly dig deeper to their salvation.

Navigating through these tunnels will be somewhat perilous -- and the Circle members will need to carry Princess Kea to the nearest tunnel to get her into some water, because while she can breathe on the surface for a certain period of time, she cannot navigate the land as quickly as you people with legs. Additionally, underwater caving isn't exactly a blast, but the deeper you go, the more clues of civilization you can find. And, eventually, once you go deep enough, you emerge into a massive underwater cavern to find the small Kingdom of Polankos.

In comparison to the Kingdom of Akvos, Polankos is witheringly depressing. It is not brightly colored, nor open -- indeed, it is tiny, with mermen huddled together waiting patiently for the forces that went through the rift to return. There is not a lot to find here, save for some interesting weapons that possess a dark energy, versus a lightning energy -- and those weapons will be given to the Circle members who ask for them, because those who wield them are in no condition to fight. There is little food, little room to sleep, and these are a people clearly in need of assistance.

In order to get them out of Polankos, you will need to usher them through the tunnels back up to the Rift above -- it seems that King Ka'pouli opened the Rift on the surface, rather than risk the city below in case it did not work. The mermen there (who seem to be elderly and weak) will be eager for the assistance to get out Polankos, and at the promise of being brought into Akvos, they will happily go. There will be no resistance from them.

You may also see Princess Kea, who has filtered in and out of the Rift to assist on the journey -- teary-eyed, heartbroken at the sight of these individuals who require rescue, organizing the mermen with the promise of keeping them safe in Akvos.

"Hurry," she tells you, as she rouses another merman into getting to the nearest tunnel. "We do not have a lot of time to pull this off, and we must work quickly."

Additionally, please feel free to write up and work with your own prompts! These areas of the world are presented as jumping off points for your characters, not limitations. The idea of this world- as with all the others- is to explore -- you may use as much leeway as you want in order to come up with what your character will do, especially in the Dreamscapes.

If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask them back on the various threads back in the OOC post from before!

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River monster.

[Waver's wild eyed, even as Roy approaches. But he can explain this, and he's calm because he's done this once. There are crowds gathering at the riverbanks.]

I can't explain everything in due time, we need...

[There's the thunder of hooves. Waver brightens, then grabs Roy's hand because this is something to run towards.]

This way.

River --

[ but then waver has his hand, and is promptly dragging him toward . . . the sound of hooves? ]

Are we in your world? Is this --

[ this is the opposite of what he expected when he walked through the rift, but roy is nothing but adaptable, and so he follows waver. he seems to know what's going on. ]

What is a chariot going to do to solve that?

This country is part of my world, just not where I live!

[Waver's gotten better at endurance over time. He doesn't run out of breath and wheeze immediately, and that's a good sign because it takes a few more moments of running full speed to finally, finally get to where he ought to be.

Which is really to say Rider's chariot and the man himself meet Waver and Roy at the exact right time, and Waver's scrambling up onto the platform before Rider can so much as say, "Boy. Where have you been?"

To the question, Waver only responds:]

Long story. [And to Roy, there's only a gesture.] C'mon!

[It's less of a beating and more of a buzz, a deep hum, the sound of diaphanous wings beating uncountable times per second, an insect's flight plan.

This place is... rustic, and primitive, by Sheryl's standards, but she's not focusing on that yet as she dashes over to Lucina, happy to see a friendly face.] Lucina!

Did you see that? I'm not seeing things, right? It was really here!

[She says, jabbing her finger at the sky.

Even if they'd made peace with the Vajra back home, there's still a lot of bad memories associated with them.]

[What?

Where is she?

Hell, where's the Vajra? She can't hear the buzz of diaphanous wings anymore, she can't see it as she scans the skies. It's as though it wasn't here at all to begin with.

Sheryl jogs up to this strange circus tent, to the man handing out pamphlets.] Hey-- did you see that in the sky just now? The giant bug-thing?

You saw it, right?

[It's not a very pretty location, to be certain. It's a large city, Shibuya to be precise, but it appears to be overrun by pink, gelatinous goo.

It also appears that there is a battle already in progress when Sheryl appears. In one corner is a strange creature that has scythes for hands and fighting against it is a beautiful woman in armor known as Sakuyamon. The woman's staff clashes with the scythes of her antagonist, but a strange thing happens with Sheryl's arrival. The creature warps right in front of her. Sakuyamon gasps as the creature shifts and grows into what looks like a monstrous insect that Ruki has certainly never encountered before. Sakuyamon jumps away, stunned.

It's then that she, as Sakuyamon, hears Sheryl behind her.]

Vajra--but that's supposed to be an agent of the D-Reaper.

[The bug alien seems to flicker for a moment, back to the previous form, but then settles into the creature Sheryl had called a Vajra.]

[The strange expanse of the void has given way to a glass floor that reflects the night sky above. Stars glimmer among the slowly shifting clouds and the wind flows through without pause or increasing in intensity.

The new space seems to stretch on forever, encouraging the mind to fog and lose all sense of time. Faint flickers of violet light up the night and fade away. Was there an eclipse in the sky or was it a trick of the light?

The wind stirs and something moves out of the corner of the eyes. Yet seemingly, everything is still.]

[Let it never be said that Sheryl Nome is a girl who hasn't known physical hardship before.

Whether it was starving for food on the streets of the Macross Galaxy to pushing herself to the point of exhaustion and beyond exercising and training as a performer and dancer, she's known pain. She's known muscle soreness.

This is different. This is a type of physical strain that she's never felt before, an all-encompassing exertion that she can practically feel destroy each muscle fiber in her body one by one. It's agonizing. This doesn't even feel like her body, but she can feel every last impact and burst of bone.

All of a sudden, as she falls back on the ground, panting for breath, the body is... hers. Unmistakably hers. And it's intact, though sore.

Sheryl pushes herself up to a sitting position, looking at the boy next to her-- the one who she'd help find that little girl.] What the hell was that?

I was just in someone else's body! [She was, right?

And she doesn't sound happy about it.]

[ Lucina isn't quite sure what she sees. She squints toward the sky, unwilling to take her eyes off a potential threat until she can isolate what it is. It isn't a Risen, or a dragon, or some other monster she knows. ]

No, you're not imagining anything. [ A quick breath. ]

Did you recognise that creature?

[Morrigan knows this sensation. She often felt this in her dreams, time ceasing to matter as she wanders the many roads of the Fade. Even here, it's a place she visits often in her dreams--though so much is different.

She looks out over the expanse of black and violet clouds amidst the stars. A dream, and dreams seldom make sense for those without the power to sculpt and mold; for those who aren't aware. Meaning either this is something someone has seen before, or... hm? Morrigan blinks. What was that? She can't help but try to turn around to try and catch a glimpse of what she could have sensed.]

Now, whose dream is this I wonder?

[A low leonine growl rolls on the air and the wind shifts, flowing south of her. It takes the scent of the desert past her and the sky briefly glows with violets, reds, and deep orange.

The movement out of the corner of her eye moves on, away from her but when she turns there is nothing. The wind brushes against her, smelling of baked sand, dry earth, and hot stone.]

[Well, that explains one thing at least.] Shiro, then.

[The growl she can place; there's only one person she knows of in this cursed Circle with anything remotely resembling the predatory cat. The scent however is... foreign, to her. No matter how she wracks her brain, she cannot place where it could possibly be from. She heaves out a sigh. Patience has never been a strong suit of hers, but she stops trying to turn around and instead listens like she would as a cat.]

[Maes is of a similar mindset. If he's not studying maps and working out coordination with the other members of the Circle fighting now, he is using his knowledge of the Palace layout to rescue and defend the civilians.

It's now that he returns from one such excursion, a handful of mermaids following closely behind him. He stops when he sees Hawkeye, nodding to her as he approaches.]

I found some more civilians who could use some help. Where can I direct them?

[Laughter echoes back to him from city streets that seem pristine. There's no traces of dirt or wear anywhere. If he looks he'll see clear up crews moving about. People carelessly toss their trash where ever they walk, clearly expecting the crews to pick it up.

Even the trees dotted about the metropolitan area seem fresh and new despite the dusting of snow everywhere he looks. There's a feeling that not all is well. Someone is watching. They move when he moves, following him at a discreet distance.

Citizens on the street watch him too. They look at him with furtive glances, as if not sure whether he is someone to casually walk past or to see him as an enemy.

The chilly air does little to help the strange sense of wrong. The news on the tvs in shop windows only speak about the present. Even the people on the streets talk about current events. If he's sharp he'll notice nowhere mentions anything that isn't happening at the present day. Shops don't announce future sales. There's not even talk of schedules or plans, from anyone.

As he looks ahead he'll see Shiro, his hair two-toned, the Galra based prosthetic once again on his arm, and his expression the neutral mask he takes when he's refusing to share his thoughts. He walks as if he's just like anyone else, his dark scarf tucked neatly into his tan flight jacket. He pauses at a street corner, frowns, and heads for the bar tucked in a corner of the street.]

you go sleep with the fishes.

[ tony initially thinks the right play is to side with the king. he's the wronged party here, isn't he? in fact, he would've been on board with killing the queen and taking the castle by force, but there's collateral damage to consider. these forces are too desperate, too hungry. he's overwhelmed and realizing all too quickly he may have gotten in over his head (again.)

when they come up through someone's house, he loses it. innocent bloodshed is the whole reason he turned his life around. it's how he became iron man. there's not a chance in hell he can turn his back on it now. he gets the mermaids to safety and puts himself directly in the path of the crazed mermen. he may not have his suit here, but even he has to admit astoria gave him a pretty cool power. ]

Pointbreak, eat your heart out.

[ anger is easy to summon when he's freaking pissed off, and the supercharged abilities while they're stuck in this place are a nice touch, even if everything else has been b a l l s. lightning surges down through the ocean, somehow targeting the mermen while leaving tony and anyone else around out of the blast radius. not bad, he might give thor a run for his money yet. ]

there's no room for you here.

Into the rift, ooookay. That's not ominous at all...

[ woah what the heck?? why is astoria talking in his ear right now. tony whips around, trying to get a good look but she's - right. goddamnit. stupid void, stupid witch. ]

I'm pretty sure you can't hear me right now, but it won't surprise you to know I'm going to seriously consider what you just told me and then do the exact opposite.

[ god he hates her. when he looks up again there's a giant mirror and his eyes sparkle with fear as he approaches. he keeps expecting the image of himself to turn into some shambling monster or something else dramatic. instead: nothing. it moves with him, it looks like him. except maybe better rested. he touches fingertips to his own and he's pulled in. it's like the vacuum of space and he's cold, too panicked to move.

there's a man in the middle of the path, impeding him from moving forward anyway. the man seems to be staring straight through him and when he turns, it's to the headlights of an oncoming car. tony throws his hands up, a bit of a warning crackle on the surface of the water above him, but the car passes right through him, like a hologram. what...? the car swerves and hits a tree violently and suddenly he feels his face grow hot. the sea carries his tears away, but it can't erase what he just saw. by the time he runs up to the car it's disappeared and stars are all around him. here come the heart palpitations. why does it always have to be space?

thankfully, that part doesn't last long, but what comes next is the real rotten cherry on top anyway. for anyone present this scene will play out. and unless you can change the dream with perhaps the influence of your own? tony will be near inconsolable by the end. eyes unseeing and breathing coming in loud, violent huffs. can he drown right now? he feels like he's going to drown. ]

This would be a super inconvenient way to die. Anyone feel me on that? I can't be the only one.

( feel free to go wild with the dreamscape stuff or hit me up for a different prompt! i'm always reachable by PM. )

Edited 2019-01-06 04:19 (UTC)

[Something vast breathes and the world spirals away, reshaping into spartan black and grey metal walls edged with light purple lights. The designs are precise and as sharply edged as Shiro's tone.]

How long does this go on? [He stands side by side with a tall man clad in armor more elaborate than the black and violets of the fighters in the room displayed on the screen. Everyone is sporting a mask except the young man with violet eyes and dark hair that wars against them.

At his side, the man answers. 'Sometimes the greatest challenge is knowing when to stop.' Shiro's brows come down a little more.] He'll never quit.

[His companion continues, ignoring the tension in the Paladin's tone. 'One way or another, this will end. Knowledge...or death.'

On the view screen, the young man roars and charges back into the fray.]

Edited 2019-01-06 04:27 (UTC)

[Yellow eyes widen at the sight, taken in by the harsh lines and electrical lights. Never in all her years has she seen something quite like this, and the urge to ask what this all is is strong. After all, knowledge begets a thirst for more.

The voices catch her attention at last and she looks at the two men speaking. Aha, it is indeed Shiro. A smile flits across her lips briefly in smug satisfaction, though it dissipates as the sight on the... whatever that is. Some sort of large screen like the video feeds on their communicators?

That boy is reckless and is likely to get himself hurt even more than he already is if not worse. A stubborn fool, but an admirable one at least.]

Surely you realize this is just a dream. [Wait.] ...Can you even hear me?

[One moment he's unsure if he's even alive and the next Hunk shoots past him dressed like...His thoughts are cut short when Keith (He'll never mistake him for anyone else even hooded) streaks past. He looks back at the Diremice and food slimes coming their way.

Shiro (Jiro? He can't quite tell. It feels right and yet wrong, and doubly confusing) darts after them, freeing his sword from the sheathe on his back. If they need to fight he's ready to go.]

Hunk! Keith! [Hunk goes down as Shiro catches up to Keith. His cloak flares out behind him as he unslings his shield. It feels as natural as activating his arm.] Nevermind what's going on. We have to protect Hunk! I'll draw their attacks. Help him up and get in shots when you can. [He stops and spins to face their attackers shield up and sword held at the ready.]

You're not getting past me!

[...and then the massive and soul-crushing void gives way to a large forest, green and vibrant with trees so ancient they've likely stood there for ages. Magic crackles against the skin, sending hairs on the back of one's neck on end. Without even knowing for certain, the woods have certainly seen their share of death and war. Yet none of the wood so much as seems to give this away.

Eyes follow movement from the trees; sometimes even the trees themselves seem to follow with their trunks as one passes by. And, in the distance, a pained lupine howl echoes with something that almost sounds human.]

[ She can feel a draft– not a current, ripple, or however the fuck you want to describe an underwater atmosphere moving. It's air, dry and cold on her face. She hears the clink, clink, clink of metal against her heels only after she's finished marveling at the fact that in this moment she is not damp all over.

Flowers sprout at her feet, the metal cracks and screeches and stems burst forth like over-eager snakes. Petals sprout, the ground continues to erupt, and Zero realizes they're forming a path one after the other.

She scowls, and squashes the flower in front of her with her foot. And then the next one, and the one after that– she follows the path, smushing every blossom as she goes. She looks a bit like an angry, bow-legged Gorilla; strangely comical in the face of how dismal and dark this place is. ]

Hey!

[ She sees a figure, calls out to it and punctuates her shout by smushing the last flower in her path. ]

Yeah, I'm talking to you– where the actual hell are we?

[ Because this sure as fuck wasn't her doing.

Not this part, at least. ]

[ kaz recognizes the cageyness in the man's tone, and quickly reacts - swallowing back the urgency, finding the footing to set an easy smile to his face. this isn't going to work by bursting in and racing around to find inej, as much as every part of kaz's body wants him to. if there is a man out front, someone who looks protective and defensive and. alright. kaz can adapt.

so he smiles, a mask settling into place. polite, upper class, cool, collected. ]

Oh, I've just heard of her talent. [ because pretending to be a scumbag mercher isn't difficult, when you spend your time near enough of them. kaz slides into the role easily, looking past the pant into the tent, curiosity and an almost innocent excitement playing across his smile. ]

Is she available for meetings from admirers? I wouldn't be long. [ he starts to reach for his pocket, though he doesn't have any money inside, playing the role and expecting the man to fall into it. if it doesn't work, he'll adapt, again. ]

[...and then the massive and soul-crushing void gives way to a derelict village, the field south of main groups of buildings and what seems to be a church building covered in makeshift and torn tents. So many people bustle about, trying to pack as much as they can feasibly carry upon their backs. Most are women and children, but there are men among them--most having the look of farmers compared to the three humans and a large tan dog observing them from atop an ancient highway big enough only for horse carts.

Despair and fear fill the dream with the inevitable panic of a crowd of too many people with fewer and fewer places to go.]

[The air is alive with the scent of living plants. He hasn't been to the temple realm in months but it gives him a sense of peace all the same. Woods he understands. The magic buzzes and brushes against him as he picks his way through the greenery. Something is watching him. Possibly everything is.

On habit, he reaches for the storm of magic inside himself. The shift is different than he's used to. Scents are sharper, the sounds clearer. His vision shifts and he lifts up a paw. Black fur and muddy paw pads. He sets his foot down and spreads his toes. The sensation is odd.

He's not sure what to think of it as he slinks ahead. The pained howl spurs him to tear through the forest as fast as his predatory cat body will allow. He darts through puddled water and leaps over fallen logs and tree roots, his ears tilted to catch the direction of the sound that's fading away.]

Hey! Hey!

[ riza has seen general hughes in the movement of the palace. though they haven't had much time to sit and chat, it's been eye contact across the halls, a nod of understanding. they know this, they understand this, they can trust each other to do their job. so when he appears with a new crew of civilillians, riza simply nods, motioning for them to join another group she'd just finished directing. ]

They can join this group, they're headed down under the palace. [ and after another moment of getting them all into line, and helping get them settled, she gives maes a small smile. ] Good to see you're alright, General. Have you been out in the streets?

[ the group of the mermaids are already heading down to safety, so riza starts walking back down the hallway of the palace, assuming maes will fall into step with her. they don't need to head back out just yet, but there is some business on the other side of the palace she needs to get to. maybe maes could help her? ]

Easy. Whatever you did, you got it out of the way. [A strong hand reaches out to gently steady him and the man it belongs to kneels down before him. His hair is stark white and his grey eyes peer at him with obvious concern.]

Take a second to rest. We can afford that much. [He glances to the now wide open path. It's wide enough he could forge ahead of the group and take his turn clearing things out. But the boy comes first.]

If you need it, I can give you more time to rest. You'll just need to hang on.

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PHASE 3: AKVOS: THE END.

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ravka

C.

For Morrigan.

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The palace

For Keith

tony bologne from that superhero shit✫

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For Shiro

gimme whatever ur heart desires

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For Keith

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ii