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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[The only "ice" slang he knows is "icing" someone as in killing them, but that obviously doesn't fit. And dealers?
Suddenly, violently, Firo shakes his head and flings one of his arms out in a wide arc, as if he can wipe away everything Hank just said.]
Wait, wait, wait. You think there're drugs in there?
[Goddamn it, was it a false tip? Some cop jumping to the wrong conclusions? Firo's barely wrapping his head around the fact that his whole casino is getting taken down; the fact that the warrant's on a crime he didn't actually do is too much.]
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[...What?]
Well, yeah. What the fuck do you think we busted you for, not checkin enough IDs before you served your fuckin drinks?
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We've got rules against that shit. Nobody deals around here.
[He's never even heard of ice as a drug, but he doesn't bother saying that; he assumes this guy won't be convinced.]
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[Hank lets his voice go heavy with sarcasm, because. Seriously?]
All you're runnin outta this joint is a lotta warm, fuzzy feelings. An operation where no one deals? Give me a break.
[He hooks his thumbs in his belt, watching over Firo's shoulder while a guy walks out from the entrance and over to him. He tells Hank they found something - a lot of something. 'Another big one, Hank,' the guy says, and hands him a piece of paper. Hank takes it, glances at it, doesn't see anything weird about having been handed a news article as proof of a bust they just made, and shoves it over toward Prochainezo with raised eyebrows.]
See? 'Nobody deals around here' my ass. I hope your lawyer can come up with a better story than that.
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He glares at the other cop who joins them--another big one what? He hasn't heard of any other underground casinos getting raided. Despite the unease in his stomach, he's curious enough that he hardly even resents the newspaper (and doesn't think too hard about this being news already) being flouted in his face. He'd've been trying to sneak a peek as soon as it came out, if he didn't think it'd get him a nightstick to the skull.
And he reads it.
Ah. If it weren't his place getting busted--drugs or no drugs, gambling is still illegal, so his goose is cooked--he'd laugh. Imagine being so confident that you let the press in on your little raid before it's finished, and it turns out you're wrong.]
You already leaked it to the press, you--?
[The accusation dies in his throat when his eyes track farther down the page and he sees the officer's full name. Anderson. Hank Anderson.]
Hank?
[And even though it seems impossibly far away, he's suddenly thinking of bad pruno and a shabby, foul-mouthed old bum. But here? And this well groomed?
Firo steps back to really size up this "Hank," again shaking his head all the while.]
You're Hank? But how're you--? [Just give him a minute to process this, blinking and sputtering like a hooked fish.]
But you're always a slob.
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[He runs a hand up his face, wondering why he's expecting to feel a beard there. He's thought about growing one out a couple times, yeah, but he hasn't done it in a while. Looks weird with the uniform.]
For someone I've never arrested before you're sure actin like you know me, Mr. Prochainezo. You sure you're not thinking of someone else?
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[But where? Half to himself:] I just don't know how you got here.
[And with that seed of doubt growing, Firo turns around to look at his casino, only to realize that the street they're on is different now--not majorly changed, but different. The same type of brick and stone buildings, but scrambled around, some taller, some shorter compared to how they were just moments ago. The cops are still bustling around, but the entrance to his casino doesn't look right at all--whatever it is, it's not his.
He doesn't need this crap right now.
Thinking of pruno and the bottom of the ocean, he turns and steps in close to Hank in one smooth movement. Now that less and less is adding up, it's occurring to him that he can't be home, but he can't let his heart break over that when he's still in front of (probably) a real person.]
You know me. Come on, you drank my booze, and you don't remember?
[Big words for a guy who barely remembered either until a moment ago, but hey. If Firo were in Hank's shoes, he'd totally take the bait.]
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Or maybe that's not what's happening. Maybe the guy's just gonna keep asking weird questions. Hank's brow furrows up.]
Well, if I don't remember it you must be really good at makin your own shit or really, really fuckin terrible. Is this you tryin to bro your way out of getting arrested? This isn't like flirting your way out of a ticket, man, you really think it makes a difference if I know you?
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He pushes out a sigh through gritted teeth.]
It's me trying to figure out why the hell you wound up in front of my--in New York. We were just--
[They were just... Hang on, how the hell did Firo get here, too?]
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[He half-turns, waving a hand at Detroit behind him. There's a nice apartment building right across the road from Firo's totally legal and not at all dangerous operation, which is fine, and the noise from the raid and Hank's team starts going quiet as Hank focuses on it. A woman hurries out the building's doors, looks both ways over the street, and hurries across, yanking her hair out of its bun.]
Hank, oh my god, next time you're telling the criminal underworld where they can shove it, if I have to spend one more stupid dinner party oohing and aahing over that twat's fancy new android all by myself you're gonna have to arrest me.
[She doesn't even slow down as she gets close, just barrels right into Hank's side in full confidence that by the time she makes impact he'll have his arm raised to clear a spot for her. He does, of course, and then turns back to Prochainezo and nods toward him, eyebrows raised, looking a little amused.]
Tell him yourself hun, he's right here.
[She raises the hand that isn't settled over Hank's hip and points it at Firo.]
You guys better lay off, you ever have to wade through a pack of morons all on your own? You've got to tag team it or it's not even fun. So you'd better clear out of Detroit, bud.
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For another, he's pretty sure he's never been scolded like that by anyone besides Seina, at least not since he was a little kid. A man would be about to lose that jabbing finger, but what the hell do you do when it's a woman?
And for yet another--Hank is married?!
If he hadn't seen her willingly cozy up to him, Firo'd ask her if she needed help to get away from that freak. His eyes dart to her left hand; maybe this is some sort of weird joke and Hank hired her to prank him, maybe--
Nope. That sure is a wedding ring on her finger.]
I-- Wh--
[What. He turns his head towards Hank and finally manages to force out an intelligible thought.]
Somebody married you?
[Gross. The Hank that he remembers--bearded, sometimes drunk, sometimes unclothed--is one no woman should experience. He might be tempted to warn this lady if that type of conversation were the kind of thing you could talk about in front of a woman.]
Somebody MARRIED You? the hit reality show coming this fall
You sure you're the criminal element? You sound like Hank's friends when they found out.
[She smacks at Hank's chest.]
Why didn't you text me? If I knew you were down here with someone who actually has a sense of humor I could have faked sick and left early.
[Hank looks from her to Firo, frowning. Sara seems pretty sure the guy's a friend of his, and he must be, right? There's something... Something niggling at his brain, he can't really get at it.]
I did drink your uh- your moonshine or something, didn't I? You musta made it yourself, I think it was, uh... gross as hell, wasn't it?
Haha, I'd watch it!
At least Hank seems to be catching on somewhat. The moonshine was indeed very gross in Firo's recollection too, so they must be getting on the same page.]
What's that say about you for drinking it, huh?
[Maaaybe not the most important topic of discussion here.]
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[That last he says with a finger raised at Sara and a badly hidden grin.]
You don't even have to say it. Don't say it.
[And she doesn't. She doesn't have to, her innocent look is just as badly faked as Hank's stern expression, and says just as much. So she just lets the set of her mouth make it clear that she's laughing at him, quietly, and then looks at Firo again.]
So, how long have you two known each other? Long enough for you to have Hank's number, huh?
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Just a few--
[He stops himself, frowning. Does she think they're buddies or something?]
I don't have his number. He just showed up and sent his guys to go trash my place!
[Yeah, Firo, you're probably not going to win her sympathy.]
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[Hank stops. He feels around the blank place in his mind and frowns at the guy and Sara steps away from him, letting her hand trail around his waist as she looks down the road.]
Well, guess that means you have time to take a walk with us, huh? Come on, the lake's just down that way.
[Her hand slides away from him and Hank reaches to curl his fingers around it, letting her pull him along, murmuring to Prochainezo as he goes.]
A few what? What were you gonna say just now?
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[Is she serious? He's clearly a hardened criminal, and they're all just supposed to take a walk together?
Possibly just as strange, Firo finds himself following along as he hisses the answer to Hank.]
A few months. Back-- [What was that place called? It'd be easy to let the memories drift away, to fall back into his "real" role of a criminal dealing with just another asshole cop.
Then again, the script of the night has already departed from that outline, he thinks as he looks ahead for this lake.]
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[Sara squeezes Hank's hand and he straightens up, looks at her. She doesn't seem to notice how disturbed he looks, how worried. She just raises her eyebrows at Firo, walking backward to look at him.]
Yeah, a walk. What's wrong with that? Where else are you going to go, man? Jail?
[Hank's worried expression doesn't leave, exactly, but a smile slips its way on top of it.]
Sara. Don't be a dick.
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There's a twinge of something that might be a wince and might be a smile at the corner of his mouth as he follows them.]
She might be more suited to this than you are. [Because what kind of cop doesn't love to be a dick? To Sara:] Do you usually hang around his raids?
[The lake breeze stirs over them as they approach, and Firo finally really looks at the lake to be struck by its vastness. Even in Alcatraz he could still see San Francisco, something of a grounding rock to remind you that there was still life out there. Here, there's just the water before them, and there might as well be nothing on the other side.
In a way, it's similar to the moorless, daunting experience of being underwater for days--longer? He glances sidelong at Hank, wondering if this is prompting memories for him too.]
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God no. There was that hot second where I thought about being a cop, but- nah. This guy can handle the raiding all on his own.
[She smiles at Hank right as the wind whips at her hair, sending some of that hair straight into her mouth. Hank brushes it away and back from her face for her, laughing a little, and then raises his eyebrows at Firo.]
Who says I'm not suited to this shit, anyway? You planning on doing something actually illegal, man, cause I can go ahead and arrest you if you really want me to.
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He snorts at the offer and looks out over the water, hands in his pockets.]
Yeah, no thanks.
[Maybe now is the time to push. Firo doesn't even know if there's any benefit to convincing Hank, but it's the only thing he can think to do. If they both get their heads screwed on straight, they should have a better shot at figuring out how to "wake up," right? Firo's sure not going to figure it out on his own.
He kicks a pebble into the lapping shoreline of the lake and looks pointedly at Hank. Something comes back to him, the feeling of expecting to drown but not--and the memory of a certain someone freaking out over it.]
This doesn't remind you of anything? I woulda' thought that place'd leave more of an impression on you, after you freaked out so much.
[What was it called? He reaches back into his head for the knowledge, the strain of recall almost physical, like the weight of sheer exhaustion pinning you in bed when you go to sleep. Or like those dreams where you have to run through molasses--he supposes it's probably the same principle, just mental. Easier to lie down and sink into sleep; easier to let facts slide back into oblivion.]
takes every second i have left to self indulgently fit in some cute shit
[Hank looks away from Firo. He stops the deep breaths through his nose, loosens up his jaw. He smiles at his wife.]
If anyone's gonna freak out in that water it's you, hun.
[She shakes her head at him, raising her eyebrows and only half trying not to smile.]
You're never going to let me forget that, are you? It was my first time! I panicked!
[When Hank looks back at Firo now the anger in him's nowhere, apparently forgotten.]
For a whole week I had to go around tellin people, no, I didn't get that black eye on the job. I got it from my wife's foot. I'm not gonna freak out, dad's been taking me out on his boat since I was a kid. We just-
[He chances a look at the water, frowning, his voice going small.]
We just gotta find a boat, that's all.
Please do <3
It doesn't help that he's still sort of jealous. And then that even after the cute little storytime Hank's still not making sense.]
Find a boat? The hell're you talking about? Are we all gonna sail across the lake together too?
[Well, if Firo had to guess they'd probably take him halfway and then dump him in, since that's how this stuff seems like it'd go when you have people on opposite sides of the law.
Would he wake up in Akvos? Home? Never? He's not really looking to find out.]
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[Hank means that as a joke but it doesn’t come out that way. It comes out in that tone from before, quiet and worried, and he slaps a smile on, trying to catch Sara’s eye but she’s turned away, one hand over her eyes to catch the hair trying to fling itself into them. She speaks without looking back, staring ahead out over the distant horizon of the lake.]
Might end up overboard anyway, the way this wind’s picking up. Don’t worry, this is the way it was when I went over my first time, if this goes like that you’ll do fine. Hank might not, though.
[She grins at him, apparently thinking of nothing more than his long ago black eye, and looks toward Firo hefore Hank can manage to smile back at her.]
It is your first time, right? Ever been in a lake like this before?
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With exaggerated casualness, he continues:]
There aren't any lakes where I'm from. ...But I've been stuck underwater in the ocean. Ask Hank, he knows all about it.
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