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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acatalepsy_logs2019-01-04 10:22 am
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She squishes the thought beneath her heel like a pesky insect. No. She knows better, and she will do this her way.]
I shall, but neither of us are so weak that we would die of loneliness. The archdemon, on the other hand...
[One breath, and the halls of Castle Redcliffe give way to the campsite once more. The wardens and all of their companions save for herself gather by the fire. Yet one-by-one, each of them depart save for Amell and Oghren.]
...They shall need a Warden to rebuild their Order's presence in Ferelden. I cannot ask him to accompany me. Nor can I ask him to help prepare the child for what his future will hold. Not when he will also need to begin to seek a cure for the poison in his veins.
[Amell seems to look towards the remnants of the fire by their feet, almost as though they are not there at all, before walking away as well with the drunken dwarf.]
...He would be so smug if he knew these were my dreams right now. [The bastard, and yet... her tone suggests beyond the annoyance, the fondness is strong.] I shall consider it, yet that would imply returning to that Castle to offer this third option in the first place.
[And she has to ask:] You are certain you want another nonhuman among you?
*Morrigan doesn't need. thanks phone
A small smile tugs at his lips as he glances at her.] You are what you are. That's not a factor in wanting to help you.
[The smile falls from his face. He stares into the fire.] I know you can do what needs to be done. You've more than proven that. [He looks at her, the fire reflected in his eyes.]
I'm just not the kind of friend that stands by when you're suffering. No matter how well you can endure it or survive it.
Phone: You're welcome. ( ~_^ )
Her mother is an ancient whisper of some ancient being of unknown origin, has plans and a purpose for her, among so many other things. If it is possible to traverse between realities - and, good gods has Astoria and this situation proven that it is with powerful magic - she will come for her. Flemeth will have her due one way or the other.
He may as well ask her if she's willing to add just one more bit of crazy in adding one more sight at their backs. Yet it's so sincere and with so few strings attached that she could see beyond said caveats that it's almost sad, really.
Friend.
...She can't help it. She barks out a laugh. She tries not to think of how similar it is to her mother's.]
'Tis just another day that ends with the letter "Y", as some would put it. [Alistair. She means Alistair.] Said person also somehow had it in their heads that ritual dismemberment is on Tuesdays. ...I will never begin to understand his sense of humor.
[Congratulations, she has no idea how to handle someone wanting to help her out of the goodness of their heart. So much so that she's resorted to sniping at her begrudging comrades back home. Gods, this is embarrassing. Almost as embarrassing as-
...The dream shifts back to the tower; some sort of sleep quarters in disarray. There is whimpering inside a wardrobe and they go to open it. A man pokes out, asks if it's safe, and then decides his best course of actions is, rather than go downstairs with Owain and to the other mages and thus safety, to go back to cowering inside the blasted wardrobe.
Morrigan blinks and stares. Yes, thank you, dreamscape, for that lovely recollection. Leliana is trying so very hard not to double over with laughter. "I suppose it wasn't his time yet."] ...Or hers.
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He stares. He looks away and coughs into his fist. It shouldn't be funny. His shoulders start to shake.]
...Maybe he's a little more closeted than others.
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...I fear I don't quite understand how 'tis so funny.
[Shiro.
Buddy.
She grew up in a swamp isolated from the rest of society, and her mother wasn't too keen on those kinds of jokes...]
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When you figure out your...preferences and admit it out loud, we call it coming out of the closet.
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[She looks at the closet, shrugs, and smirks a little bit. Okay, now she understands why it's funny.]
Well, you allowed me time for some questions... have you any of your own?
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...and just what is she?
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[She crosses her arms, contemplating it.] ...I do not know. [A crazy old woman who talks too much, an abomination of legend that nudges the course of history...] Only that she isn't human.
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[He reaches up and tugs at his hair.] That's what you saw in my memories.
The battle we had was applied to our physical bodies here. It felt surreal until I looked at myself in the mirror. Then it was real and I knew it was real. Keith and I had to patch up, and I reaffirmed my promise. We're equals.
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...Home.
[You knew it would come to this. 'Tis just a few moments to calm the nerves, cool stone floor warmed by the lit fireplace. One more night before the long march, and then...
One breath in, and the exhale twists the campsite into the last room she remembers, the door still shut. It is empty save for them.]
So at any moment, I could return here?
[Back to his guest room, to the future she knows will need to come to pass.] One would hope two lovers considered themselves equals, or else t'would never work. Even I know that fact.
[She shakes her head, and the dream ends.]