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
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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[She frowns at Hank, confused, and Hank opens his mouth, stares at her. Then he looks at Firo.]
Don't do this. We could just, we could take a walk, or- something, I don't know. The lake'll be here later.
[Sara's voice interrupts, more tired than before, pitying.]
That's not how this works, Hank.
[When he looks at her she's older by a few years; there are more lines on her face, white threading itself through her hair. There's a rumpled look to her, now. She's got big dark bags underneath her eyes.]
You know that's not how any of this works.
[Hank's head snaps toward Firo.]
Don't do this. Don't go here. Somewhere else, okay? Not- not here.
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It's easier to face Hank, barking:]
Do what? All I did was answer her question. Do you remember now?
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[Sara's voice cuts in and, god, she sounds so tired. She'd sounded so fucking tired.]
Hank. Don't do this.
[Hank doesn't look toward her but he looks down, his anger at Firo disappearing into something tight and contained. He can't do anything else; he couldn't then.]
You don't have to.
[Sara's trying to sound gentle now, he can tell. He could tell. It doesn't come out that way.]
Yeah. Yeah I do.
[There's a moment he felt like he should have filled; like he should have found something to say that'd erase all the- all the shit. Make everything right again. Even if that set of magic words existed, though, he's still not sure, even now, that he would of said it. He'd just stood there - stands here - watching the dark behind his eyelids, feeling the inside of his throat shrink. She runs a hand, slow, barely touching, over Hank's head, brushing back the loose grey strands of his long hair.]
Take care of yourself, Hank. Please.
[One of his hands plants itself on his hip. The other one sits over his mouth. His eyes stay closed. He expects to hear a door click shut; something slips into the water, instead.
After a moment he speaks, his voice quiet and scratching, rough like he hasn't used it in a while.]
Yeah. Yeah I remember, you goddamn son of a bitch. You fucking-
[He ducks his head, concentrating on the feeling of his palm against his lips. His hair falls over his face.]
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Yell at me all you want, but I didn't do any of that.
[Just gonna. Wave vaguely at the lake because what the hell.]
No need to go in after her, I'm assuming.
[Assuming that she's not actually real and so not drowning or anything right now.]
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You son of a bitch!
[Putting it on Hank when Firo's the one who insisted, who pushed, that's bad but snide is worse, snide just when he remembers, god, fuck he remembers, and if he can twist a hand up in Firo's clothes to pull him close, if he can pull him close just as he drives a fist toward the guy's snide fucking face, if he could do that and feel the follow through it wouldn't feel better, but it would suit Hank just fine. Hank would be just fine with it.]
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--And then Hank's coming at him and all such thoughts slide from his head, replaced with motion.
When Hank's fingers find Firo's shirt, Firo grabs his hand and twists his body to the side, ducking low in an attempt to avoid the punch--and, maybe, if the momentum works out, throw him. Or get them both dragged down together. He's not feeling too picky.
And so, regardless of his success or failure, as he tries the redirect he'll bark out:]
The hell is your problem?
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The hell do you think? 'Oh, no need to go after her, huh?' Fuck you!
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Yeah, because she's not real, idiot! If you think she is, then go in after her!
[She can't be, right? This whole place--wherever they actually are--is fucked up, and normal people don't randomly age a few decades and vanish.
He tries to jerk away from Hank--not to line up for an attack, but to leave him open to go to the lake if he wants.]
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Don’t fucking tempt me.
[He mutters it, meaning something very different from what Firo’d meant, and then lowers his hands to hang off his knees, voice flat, staring at the water.]
Why’d you do it? Why’d you have to push and push until I had to wake up?
[He sighs, his voice going quieter, almost disappointed.]
I never had you pegged for the kind of guy who enjoys knocking people down like that.
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He frowns, then goes to push himself to his feet.]
You're outta your mind if you think any part of this's been "enjoyable" for me.
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[He doesn't make any move to get up himself, or look around to see what Firo's doing. The sun's starting to set, casting vibrant, shimmering reflections against the water - for no other reason, Hank knows, than because some stupid part of his brain felt like it fit, like the sun going down was appropriate right now. If only the real world responded to that sort of feeling the way dreams do- well, the world would be an even more fucked up place, wouldn't it. This isn't at all how the real world acts, and Hank guesses that must be for the best.]
Then you gonna tell me why? You knew what was going to happen when I- remembered. You had to know.
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