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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[ he gives the winnings he definitely didn't earn a suspicious once-over, but then starts gathering the coins into his coat pockets. if it's the only way firo will play along... he has to, right? then he'll head towards the bar, still surveying the place for anything weird as he follows along. ]

Does everything seem... normal to you?

[ he would know better than anyone after all if this is the way the casino always is. john reluctantly takes a seat and points at the first single malt he sees. that should keep him focused. ]

[Good, he took the money. Firo nods, satisfied, and continues with John to the bar.

His tendency towards denial pipes up that of course it's all normal; he's finally home, the way he should be, like Alcatraz and Astoria were all just a bad dream.

Gone. Just like that.

When the thought is punctuated by another ghostly cell door slam, even Firo has to admit that very little about this whole experience makes sense. He leans his elbows on the bar, frowns, and then lets his head just flop forward into his palms.]

...No, not really. It's not usually this-- [He waves one hand around futilely. How do you even sum up the phantom noises that are going on around them?

Not to mention that his conversational partner, too, is a complete anomaly. Acknowledging that fact allows the memories that Firo simply wasn't thinking about to filter in, and he accepts them with a sigh of resignation.

Softly, so that that none of the dream-guests overhear and think he's crazy--or worse, leave the casino--he asks:]

Am I losing my mind, or were we just at the bottom of the ocean?

[ oh, no alcohol is served at this bar. only feelings. his least favorite watering hole. john also braces an elbow on his side of the bar and leans his head on his hand as he listens. though the boredom quickly dissipates when he starts hearing some good old fashioned ghost noises. it's been a while, old friends.]

If you are, old chap, the two aren't related. I was wondering when you'd remember that.

[Indeed, the worst kind of bar. Firo stares sullenly at the bottles lining the shelves and wonders if it's worth it to get a drink if this isn't even real. There's only one way to reconcile John's presence--and the other oddities--with being home: the admission that he isn't actually home.

With a groan of dismay, he drops the attempt at being quiet. No need for it now.]

It just seemed felt like everything finally went back to normal.

[Another phantom door slam, this time accompanied by measured, marching footsteps on concrete.

Well, for a relative meaning of "normal."]

You think that witch would let go of us so easily? We're a hot commodity in this universe, a-bleeding-pparently.

[ he points up at the noises. ]

Wanna go check that out?

[Firo's eyes track the gesture up to the ceiling. He considers what they might find if they go looking--likely not the city street that should lie above his casino, if the noises are anything to go on. Now that he's letting himself acknowledge the sounds, his skin crawls with recognition for the kind of environment that would produce them.

He doesn't want to confirm this suspicion. But, as he lowers his gaze to meet John's eyes again, he can't just chicken out. Besides, what else is he going to do? Wallow here until the dream fades?

He pushes himself up from the bar with a sigh of resignation.]

What've we got to lose? Besides time.

[The stairway to the street is tucked away in one of the far corners of the casino, making it oh so convenient for guests to stay and play just one more round. Firo starts for it at a decent "I-want-to-get-this-over-with" clip.

If one of them pushes open the door at the top of the stairs, it'll creak open into a massive hallway lined with barred cells--Alcatraz's infamous "Broadway," a sort of echoing cathedral of steel and concrete.

Strangely enough--as if nothing here weren't strange enough already--at first glance it'll appear to be completely empty.]

That's the spirit. Dream sequences like this usually don't go minute-for-minute in the waking world anyway.

[ the trouble is... it isn't always shorter back there. here's hoping they can seal this up while everyone still needs their help, right? he follows firo until the door opens, but then he's sliding in front of him. there's only one of them with experience of the supernatural, so it only tracks that he should lead in. plus he's damn sick of watching people die, dream or not. ]

Well, this is new. You come here on a school trip or somethin', mate?

[How long do they go, is what Firo wants to ask, but he's wary of sounding worried. He's suddenly conscious that John's some sort of expert on this stuff--that the monster bullshit maybe wasn't bullshit--and here Firo is, just some idiot who doesn't know a thing.

Once they're through the door, he tries to step to the side to get out from behind John and get a better look.

At the question, he turns away to hide a wince. He didn't expect to be asked that, somehow, and doesn't have a good answer ready. It's probably best to be honest anyway, even if he doesn't have to spill the whole convoluted tale.]

Er--not exactly. Unless you count it in the sense that some people call places like this "finishing school" for guys like me.

[Not the wittiest way to put it, but Firo's never pretended to be bright. And is there a good way to tell some guy you barely know that you were imprisoned?]

[ he opens his mouth then snaps it shut again. right, time travel... ]

And this is why I'm a wizard, not Marty bleeding McFly.

[ he also hates alternate reality shit, but oh well, he'll bite. there's definitely not judgment in his voice when he asks: ]

What did you say your full name was again?

[ john constantine operates more or less outside the law. or just on the fringes of it, maybe. oh, he's got a good story. ]

Got locked up in Mexico once, you know. They called me El Diablo. [ no really, because he was actually possessed. ]

[His name? Firo looks back at John, blinking a couple times. It's an easy question to answer but not one he expected to be asked.]

Firo Prochainezo.

[The smile that quirks up half of his mouth is a mix of relief and amusement. Astoria's group is made up of more law-abiding types than he's used to being around on a regular basis--it feels like he's met another "normal" person, finally, for lack of a better word.]

Are you just making that up?

Never heard of you.

[ which means: ding ding ding. alternate reality AND time travel. his two faves in one. the rest gets a snort. ]

I wish, mate. [ still to this day he can't cross the border okay. he hears another chain rattle and stops moving forward, looking over at firo to see if he knows what's up. ] You dream about this place a lot?

[The only response Firo gives to that look is a shrug before he continues walking ahead. Coincidentally, this means he doesn't have to look at John when he answers the question. He doesn't know how his dreams might be incriminating, but either way he's not too wild about talking about them--it verges too close on weird touchy-feely stuff that you just don't talk about.]

...Sometimes. Not a lot--I wasn't there for that long before I wound up in Astoria's temple. Does it matter?

[There are more rattlings farther down the tier, in the direction that Firo's idly heading towards.]

Yeah, it matters.

[ his arm bars across to stop firo's forward momentum, trying to get the other man to listen. no one ever does until it's too late. ]

If there's a big nasty waiting for us, I want to know now and not when it's plucking out our livers for a snack.

[Firo stops short when his way is blocked. Despite the way that nothing here seems like it should add up to reality, it feels real, and Firo realizes he can't fault someone for wanting to know more about potential dangers. As an immortal, he knows that even if death and damage aren't permanent they can still be unpleasant as hell.]

Fair enough. [He sighs and meets John's eyes.] All I can tell you is that there weren't monsters or anything at the real place. All you had to worry about there are the guards or the other guys, and I don't see any of 'em around here. I think we'd already've gotten shot by now if they were.

[Still, just the thought of it has him glancing up uneasily at the catwalk above them.]

...But the real place also wasn't right above my casino, so I can't make any promises.

Well, if this is a dream my magic should work fine, so stay behind me, will you, lad?

[ not because he's become particularly attached to him or anything!!! no that's crazy. john edges towards the sound, half-expecting some really lame jumpscare or something. ]

Got any deep, dark fears about this place? [ since he said no to recurring dreams, he's ruling out a sleep demon, but a fear demon could still easily be in play. ]

Doesn't seem right to stay behind you when you got dragged into my dream.

[Grumble grumble. All the same, he'll hang back a little--but he's ready to go hurl himself into danger headfirst if it appears.]

No. [Offered very quickly.] I mean, it wasn't a vacation, but I'm not scared of anyone here.

[The big thing to worry about would be Huey. And since immortals can only "eat" other immortals, then John really doesn't have anything to worry about from him--Huey didn't seem like the sort of guy to go shank some random guy.

But, well, dreams don't always follow real-life rules, so once they approach the cell that seems to be the source of the rattling noises, there sure is going to be a right hand popping out to grab at anyone who gets too close.

It is, indeed, a lame jumpscare. Sorry, John.]

Right, who would be scared of the most notorious criminals in North America?

[ not him!! he's el diablo. which is why he shrieks when that hand wraps around his wrist, of course. ]

What in the blue blazes? [ his eyes glow gold as he holds up his hands, chanting quietly in some dead language or other, a big golden dial appearing in front of him as he tries to force the creature to show its true form. ] This place is bollocks, mate.

[Firo starts when the hand shoots out, then starts again when John's eyes change. His eyes dart from the hand--or the darkness where its person should be--to John.]

Wh-- How'd you do that?

[The hand changes as its true form is forced out. It's not human, just an extension of the dream; there's a flat, two-dimensional quality to it, like a paper cut-out. It flickers, then lights up to reveal the rest of the "person" it's attached to, an unassuming man with an empty smile, who stares at them unblinking and makes no move to let go.

Even his grip may feel like tissue paper and, thus revealed, he may be easily banished.]

That's right, hands off the goods, partner.

[ he turns his gaze on firo, they flash gold but spark back blue a moment.]

Told you I was a master of the dark arts. You know this wanker?

[ seems polite to ask before he sends him to hell and all. ]

It sounds stupid to say it now, but I wasn't sure if I believed you.

[Now? That's a different story.

His response is slow, more out of confusion rather than any real careful consideration of his words.]

Yeah, I know him. What exactly are you gonna do? The guy I know's immortal.

[But he also doesn't look like an incorporeal paper doll and probably would've made some snarky remark by now, so Firo'll be damned if he can guess how this is going to play out.]

[ he snorts at that, shaking his head. ] Always a skeptic. [ whether he means firo himself or people in general he doesn't specify. the golden runes before him seem like a shield, but now they glitter with hellfire and he shakes his head. ]

That won't matter where he's going.

[ john finishes off his chant before he can lose track of the spell, and curiously, the man burns just like the paper he resembles now. that's something he'll carry to his own dreams so thanks for that, weird voidspace. and just as quickly as it happens, they're back out in the tunnel, the casino and the prison above it gone in one blinking instant. ]

You've got some unresolved issues, mate. [ he quips though his eyes betray him, a concern for firo shining in their depths. but they've got a mission on now, and it's time to go. has been for some time, hasn't it? ] We've got merpeople to save, yeah?

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PHASE 3: AKVOS: THE END.

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does this work as a capper? let me know if you need anything changed.