world jump # 6 event: a disturbance in the ice.

[acatamods]

I ▫ main IV ▫ premise       XI ▫ applications XIV ▫ activity II ▫ logs V ▫ rules VII ▫ bestiary   IX ▫ canon updates XII ▫ taken XV ▫ drop/hiatus III ▫ ooc VI ▫ faq VIII ▫ setting   X ▫ mods XIII ▫ reserves XVI ▫ players welcome to joikull. QUICK LINKS COMMENT SECTION: MOD QUESTIONS | IN THE CITY | OUT OF THE CITY | TASK SUBMISSIONS WORLD INFO: WHEN YOU WAKE UP | JOIKULL | NEW MAGIC | BEYOND THE WALLS | JUMP SUMMARY | MOD NOTE EVENT INFO: THE EXPLOSION | INVESTIGATIONS | IN THE CITY | OUT OF THE CITY THE EXPLOSION. It’s thunderous — the sound of it wracks the village, causing the ice beneath everyone to splinter ever so slightly at first. A light becomes to consume the sky, and before everyone realizes it, the festivities have become a mess of magic and panic. Some civilians are quick to run, and the chaos that ensues leads to what can only be described as an impending disaster. Your magic no longer functions properly. In some instances, it is debilitatingly strong to a point where it will cause harm to either yourself or those around you. If you need to stabilize, find someone who can handle the heat or calm you down. Either way, you’ll need to take care of this. The citizens are ridden with fear and anxiety, and should they see you, they may regard you as a threat. In others, your magic will produce the reverse of the effect you’re accustomed to. If you produce fire, you’ll be producing ice. If your powers are more on the abstract side, the effect in question will be up to you. Feel free to get creative! And in an especially bizarre case, you may find that you’ve swapped powers with someone intermittently. You may have to guide one another through this — it flickers on and off like a light switch, so do exercise caution. DANGEROUS INVESTIGATIONS It is a couple of days after the initial explosion that the rising tension and fear reaches a peak. Specifically as the result of not only the property damage that has occurred due to the rise in temperature, but the way it seems to be affecting the natives themselves. Over the course of just a couple of days, there have started to be disappearances. Sudden, and seemingly out of nowhere. Many natives have abandoned the festivities, choosing instead to hide within their homes. Others try to continue on as usual, try to keep the energy up, but there is still a strange sense to the city. You get word of a meeting taking place in the center of town - a square that had, not a few days ago, been the center of the festivities. Three figures stand among the crowd, and all members of the Circle have been invited. What we are facing is like nothing we have seen before. But a few of us have met, and discussed the next course of action. You will, of course, not be forced to join either group. But if you do wish to investigate this sudden danger, and find a way to save Joikull, we suggest you pick a path. We leave at dawn. IN THE CITY INVESTIGATION ➜ The city is in disarray — the denizens are at unease, but are willing to cooperate in spite of their reluctance. They’re quick to discuss matters of privacy, and it’s been decided that an investigation into each and every house must be conducted. Some families are more amiable than others, and will cook a meal or allow Circle members to stay the night afterwards. Others...may be eager to get you out of their hair. The city is melting, and the citizens are becoming increasingly stressed. Tensions are rising, and people are becoming more reserved by the minute. ➜ The biggest worry is the missing natives. Some of the citizens have started to panic because of it - what has happened to their family members? Their friends? Where could they even go? Whether or not you believe the fate of the these people at the hands of a slowly rising temperature, they made need some help calming down. Panic, in mass numbers no matter who the masses are, is dangerous - and will show themselves in many ways. You will be tasked with protection, with stopping those who plan to take advantage of it, and do what you can to keep the city running. ➜ Another task at hand is patrolling the streets. Keeping an eye on the city - night and day. With the craziness of the magic, no one quite feels safe, and they may ask a bit more of you than you are willing to give. Sleep will be shortened, and your shifts will be long. But you said you were willing to help, didn't you? They need help. ➜ The labyrinth is akin to a maze: there doors upon doors, and stairs upon stairs, both of which can lead to dead ends or...other strange little places. Some pathways may lead you into different pocket realms entirely (a beach episode, for example), while others are of a more abstract nature, serving as portals into old memories of yours. It will do everything in its power to draw your attention away from the matter at hand: the source of this magic. Ultimately, you will find yourselves at the same doorway you have descended into only days prior to this investigation. The Circle has made the decision to wait for their allies. OUT OF THE CITY INVESTIGATION The journey is rigorous, and will not leave you unscathed. Joikull is as cold as can be, but the trek ahead poses more issues than expected. Suit up, pack appropriately, and slip your boots on — it’s time. ➜ On the first day, the path is rather straightforward, but Circle members will find that acclimating to the near-constant blizzard is a challenge. A life threatening challenge. It only takes a few hours for the group as a whole to make camp out of sheer exhaustion. With the aid of magic, warm food and rest are within reach, but the weather won’t make easy to sustain either of those things. Lo and behold, the tents will have be carried away by the wind or shred to pieces, leaving you to fend for yourselves. The journey continues. Grab onto a hand, or make sure you have a partner of any sort, as you’ll likely find yourself lost if you don’t. ➜ ...Should you get lost, you’ll find that while many animals have underwent hibernation, others are on the prowl. Be careful around the snow owls that will lead you to yours death, and the territorial wolves that will attack if you show up unprompted. ➜ The fourth and fifth days are the most difficult of them all. Your amenities are now frozen over, and fire is needed to keep them intact. Others have spoilt entirely, and the wind is as harsh as can be. Fortunately, there is a light at the end of the tunnel...quite literally. ➜ The temperature spike is notable. The ground underneath you is chipping away, and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to see. However, the Circle members will find themselves practically thawing, as will Joikull’s citizens. The intensity of the magic everyone has been gifted will reach an all time high, now capable of impacting areas at large — collateral damage is now a possibility. The natives stay back, unable to endure the effects of the “glow”, and leave the rest to you. It’s reminiscent of a large orb — akin to the sun or a glowing planet, and the closer you get, the more overwhelming it is. A massive. all consuming orb of light. ➜ ...It seems to be responding to magic. Elemental magic will cause the “glow” to spit out effects that correspond to whatever element that user is wielding (inflicting burns on someone who might be using fire magic, as an example), but the “glow” seems to lose a bit of its energy as well. It appears to be weakest to dark magic. Other forms of magic, such as those on the more psychological spectrum, will hinder the “glow” as well, but may overstimulate the user by extension. Either way, keep at it — attacking the “glow” will weaken its power, but it’ll be at the expense of the Circle. MOD NOTES. Remember, you can always ask more questions if needed on the earlier OOC post, linked up top! Enjoy the end of Acatalepsy 1.0, and stay tuned for a lot of big announcements in the future! Stay warm, Circle members. :)

Comments

roy mustang (out of the city)

[insubordination]

the blizzard.

[ roy spends most of the journey in the sudden blizzard encouraging others to keep moving. it's not necessarily a gentle push, but if you stumble, roy will grab you by the arm and yank you back up. ]

Keep moving, or you're not going to make it through the night.

[ punctuated by ushering toward the fire, near the fourth and fifth day. it's a miserable time, but he's going to force you to keep moving.

he's not losing anyone on this idiotic adventure. ]

the source.

[ having been through one catastrophic failure of a world, roy is trying everything, and anything, to keep this damn weird source of magic to itself, and not spread to the rest of joikull.

so, after (1) trying to block it with a physical barrier; (2) trying to shoot it; and (3) throwing snow at it, roy says, in aggravated frustration: ]

Just disappear, for the love of --

[ and as roy speaks, his magical ability that astoria has granted him activates. the glow seems to dim slightly, but roy's hand promptly goes to the side of his head, his expression shifting from aggravation to a sudden sharp pain, emanating from the base of his skull. ]

What in the hell was that -- ?

[ further, if you want to fall prey to roy's hypnotic persuasion ability on accident... he may accidentally demand you do something and you seem to find yourself just... doing it? why are you shoveling snow into a glowing hole in the ground? you have no idea, bu roy asked you to do it, so you seem to be doing it. weird, right? ]

the source

[foundafamily]

[Firo hates standing on the sidelines and feeling useless, but with little he can do to a weird magic glow, he's been doing just that. It puts him in a position to notice Roy's change in posture and his question, and Firo quickly tears his attention from the glow to advance to the other Circle member.]

What's the matter? You get hurt?

[He wonders how given that he didn't actually see the glow lash out or anything, but he quickly dismisses that question. The more important question is: Does he risk trying to heal the guy with how crazy their powers have been acting up? Firo hangs back a pace away, opting to kick that question down the road until he actually knows what's wrong.]

[insubordination]

A headache.

[ distractedly; what had happened? he hadn't intentionally used his ability, but that doesn't seem to matter for much, given how all over the place their abilities have been... but he shakes his head quickly, to clear his vision, and refocus his attention on the orb. ]

I'm fine, don't worry about me. Others will need your assistance more than I will, I'm sure.

the source because he deserves this being done to him

[mollymocked]

[While THAT has been going on, Molly is crouched in the snow surrounded by all variety of light swords that have managed chestburst out of him, most of them bent or broken as they try to drive back the source to no avail. It's like a Fate/Stay Night opening over here.

He looks extremely miserable, a sweat sheen on his face and exhaustion discoloring his red eyes, his skin a less vibrant lilac rather than the usual lavender.] For gods' sake, Roy. If you die, we're all fucked, so don't actively try to kill yourself.

omfg.

[insubordination]

[ . . . a far worse fate, it seems, than his own power. and roy quickly shakes off the sharp bolt of pain to make his way to molly's side, offering him a hand up. he's going to just... ignore the swords scattered everywhere, for the time being. ]

I have no intention of dying.

[ firmly. come on, molly. ]

And neither do you. Come on, get up.

the blizzard

[fade_to_black]

I'll just leave a clone behind to freeze in my place.

[The dry remark was typical of Blake, but really this weather was frightening. She had never seen anything like this. Not even in Atlas. She wondered if Weiss even had experience with this.

He was right. She bit her lip to keep herself alert as they moved forward.]

I didn't come this far to die out here.

[insubordination]

If being stubborn keeps you alive, so be it.

[ but once he's sure blake is back on her feet and moving forward, roy keeps moving himself. staying still in this cold means death, though roy lingers near her, to ensure she doesn't stumble again. ]

We can't be too far now.

The source bring on the powers.

[clickclickbloom]

[Every time Ruby had tried to get a shot in her powers decided it was then the best time to act out and she had shrunk down much smaller than she ever thought she could only to shoot right back up to either regular size of or somewhere in between. This wasn't really going as well as she had hoped it would.

She was finally back to her normal height when she approached Roy.]

Yeah! Go away you big magical hunk of junk!

[When calling it names doesn't get it to just leave she gives Roy a worried look.]

Hey, you okay?

[insubordination]

[ to roy, it looks like ruby appears out of absolutely nowhere. he hadn't seen her on the field earlier, had he? but at any rate: ]

I'm fine.

[ distractedly, as he pushes the hair out of his eyes. how obnoxious. ]

Whatever this thing is seems to be affecting our abilities -- it's nothing I can't handle. [ ANYWAY. ] How are you holding up?

the source

[thedarkbond]

[By necessity of his powers, Ren has mostly been more directly attacking the glow, though he's looking a little battered as a result. He's gotten better at dodging what the hole has been coughing back up at him after the first few times, at least, but said first few times left some nice cuts on his face and a few dints in his armour.

On that note, when Ren approaches Roy out of some level of curiosity about the effect he's having, it's in the form of...basically himself, but slightly more powerfully built and in some truly impractical black armour.]

It keeps firing back attacks that mirror what's done to it. If you used something psychological, it might've done the same to you.

[Ren doesn't particularly like having to be in serious mode, but on this occasion, he's arguably even more serious than he was when they met on the Horologium.]

[insubordination]

[ ren makes a good point, and roy drops his hand from his head to look at the orb again, his eyes narrowing in frustration. every action has an equal and opposite reaction, and using his ability had had some level of effect on the glow, at the risk of some sort of damage to himself.

still... ]

Then it's working at some level.

[ sort of; and as roy takes a step forward to peer at the orb, he prepares to summon his power again. utilizing his voice to command the thing to bend to his will. ]

We need to destroy this thing as quickly as possible, or the result could be catastrophic... are you alright?

inej ghafa (in the city)

[wraithes]

missing natives.

[ inej is going through the city as quickly as she can, in her heavier winter clothing. it's hard to slip through unnoticed as the wraith in a heavy winter coat, but she does her best as she attempts to track down where these natives went.

tracking them only leads to just... nothingness. where did these people go? the answer is quasi-obvious (they're made out of ice, it is getting warmer...), but if you're in the city, you may see something out of the corner of your eye moving along the rooftops of the buildings, or stealing its way through alleyways, in an attempt to find out what is going on from above.

the wraith is on the move.

she can also be found patrolling the streets, later in the crisis... but, again, mostly out of sight, out of mind. she isn't one to draw a lot of attention to herself, and so catching her can be a bit difficult. but if you need a partner in crime, to stay up during these long nights, she can be found with a warm drink, offering it to you with a tired smile. ]

No sleep is better with some company.

memories.

[ eventually, her searches lead her to the doorways. the beginning of the labyrinth that she had avoided. and while inej does her best to stay close to the city... well, curiosity killed the cat, and people need help. to ignore the obvious is dangerous.

soon enough, though, she quickly discovers that the tunnels play tricks of the mind. whispers in the dark, and suddenly, the walls around her fall to the busy, bustling streets of ketterdam. disgusting, crowded, dark, and dank, but home. and though you may find yourself there with her, inej quickly hisses a curse underneath her breath in a foreign tongue, before saying: ]

Not again.

[ she has been through this enough to know this is not real. ]

missing natives

[rougerebelle]

[Carmen had opted to stay in the city this time. It was becoming difficult to determine where her skills would be most helpful, but since she was pretty good at disappearing herself, she figured investigating the disappearances around the city was more helpful than trekking out into the wilderness again.

It was because of this idea of keeping a watchful eye combined with the fact that she had 'seen' Inej in action before that she notices the woman at all. It's brief, a blink and you miss it scenario, but Carmen doesn't miss it and instead decides to follow.

No sense in just sitting around contemplating what is happening.

At first she keeps her distance, but it's not difficult to eventually catch up and intercept. Carmen appears at her shoulder before too long.]

Heading anywhere in particular?

[wraithes]

[ ah, carmen. another spider, like her. and inej isn't too surprised, at carmen appearing out of nowhere, instead offering a brief wave of her fingers, in greeting. ]

No.

[ in a soft exhale; inej appears frustrated. ]

Simply trying to keep track of the native population... but they are disappearing faster than I can assist them.

missing natives.

[uptightness]

[It's her own search that Carolina has been attempting, although her efforts so far have come to nothing. What she knows is that people seem to be going missing, and aside from that, not much else. To say it is frustrating is putting it mildly. It's not like they are finding torn up bodies or blood soaked walls.

At the moment she is standing there, one hand on her armoured hip, almost still enough to be a statue. The facts just aren't adding up, but a lot with this whole experience doesn't add up. Thankfully her amour is temperature regulated, and she's not minding the cold as she stands there. It is after a few moments that there is a frustrated noise, looking back over her shoulder, grumbling to herself.]</small? What? Does the earth just eat them whole?

[wraithes]

[ carolina is interesting... or, at least, the armor is. and as inej makes her way closer, pushing back the hood of her coat, she seems to appear out of absolutely nowhere with something warm to drink, if carolina wants it. ]

They seem to be made out of ice... and it is getting warmer.

[ it's... dark, and morbid, to say the least, but inej calls it like she sees it, even if it is horrific. ]

So it is entirely possible, that the earth swallowed them back from where they originally came.

hunk (in the city)

[formleg]

A Dangerous Past Time
[Not for the first time Hunk is at a loss. Despite the cold, he has sweat on his brow, and clearly looks tired. Sitting in front of him is one of the locals looking rather thin and damp themselves. For a moment it looks like the shine is from re-freezing water, but as soon as Hunk pulls his hand away the ice turns back into ice-melt. He sighs, looking defeated.]

I’m sorry.

‘We can try again later…?’

Uhm...sure.

[Hunk doesn’t have the heart to tell them that he doesn’t think the power is working at all. It’s just not fair. Why does his power never seem to work when it REALLY is necessary. He wipes his brow and looks around to see if another native wants to give it a try. Instead he spies someone else.]

Hey! Any more news on what’s going on?

[Hopefully you’ll also pretend like Hunk doesn’t look exhausted.]


Not Prepared Patrol
[He should have known better than to volunteer for patrol duty that same night. He could barely keep his eyes opened, but the people needed him. He’d seen the looks of worry as he passed different areas of town and couldn’t shake the feeling that he was letting them down. He took a deep breath and scooped some snow off the ground, holding it to his own neck to keep himself awake.

Of course it melted.

And of course, around midnight, he was dozing at his post.

At least until the scream jerked him awake.]

Huh? Wha? Who goes there?

Not Prepared Patrol

[uptightness]

Thankfully not someone who's going to hit you over the head.

[There might be a dryness to her voice, as he seems to be attempting to keep watch. Attempting being the operative word. Then again, she does know that the shifts have been long. Carolina feels it tugging at her, draining her, but it's sheer stubbornness that keeps her moving, keeps her searching in the dark for whatever it making people go missing.]

Maes Hughes | Outside

[dadandgone]

Down
[One minute you’re traversing a frozen maze, down and down until you can’t remember if this was the same stairwell you passed moments ago or not. Maes had fallen back on his old method of marking the way, but things go a bit awry when the next turn opens up into a vast, verdant forest complete with babbling brook.

Maes blinks, confused, and looks over his shoulder to see the way he had come was no longer available to him. He sighs.]

Great. More magic. You know, this wasn’t so complicated last time.

Prey
[Maes grabbed the nearest person and dove to the left. His powers were extra twitchy these days and so it was with ease that they blinked out of existence only to reappear a good ten feet away. Shit. He’d only meant to teleport them a few inches.

If his nerves hadn’t already been shot, he’s not sure he would have heard the near silent crunch of snow. He looked up, releasing his grip from whoever he had grabbed, and straining to get a better look at what had attacked them. A wolf growled in frustration, having just missed it’s dinner and, unfortunately, it wasn’t eating solo.]

Uh oh.

Prey

[foundafamily]

Hey--!

[Firo doesn't have much time to linger on his surprise at suddenly being moved like that--the wolves are getting closer, and they look hungry. Firo raises his knife, resigning himself to putting up as good a fight as he can.

Grimly:]

You would've happen to have enough in you for a farther jump this time, would you?

[dadandgone]

[Maes reaches for his own daggers, a present he'd taken with him out of Faerun, they were longer than his push knives and would be better for this kind of fight. He shakes his head.]

Yes, but...

[He doesn't get much of a chance to elaborate. A second wolf, to his right, lunges towards him. Maes' time in Faerun had done a lot to prepare him for this and he brought the blade up swiftly to swipe at the beast. It slashed the creature's throat, but failed to hit a major artery. It was still enough to startle the wolf into falling back with the rest of the pack, snarling.]

I don't want to risk teleporting us too far off course.

[Not to mention the rest of their group couldn't be too far away...they had to be close and Maes wasn't sure how reliable his powers could be. The time a few moments ago had mainly been out of reflex.]

[clickclickbloom]

[Okay... The forest was definitely a change of scenery. Ruby took a moment to look around with wonder until she turned around to see that they weren't going to be going back the way that they came.]

Yeah... I almost think I'd rather be babysitting those kids again over this. At least we knew what we had to do there.

...Do you think we could try teleporting back?

[dadandgone]

[Maes considers this suggestion, but then also thinks back to his brief conversation with Riza.]

I don't think that's a good idea. Our powers have been acting strangely and these tunnels are inside a mountain. We could just as easily overshoot our destination and wind up in thin air.

[Maes refocuses his attention on their surroundings. There isn't really a path, though obviously it's clearer around the stream.]

Let's just follow the river. Maybe it's like Akvos and we'll wind up on the other side of this sooner rather than later.

[Although, if this WAS like Akvos, then they might have bigger problems on the horizon.]

ren suzugamori (out of the city)

[thedarkbond]

[a: on the road]

[Ren is just as unused to this kind of harsh environment as he was on the first trip, so though that helped him get kind of used to what he should be expecting here, the weather is somehow even worse the second time around. He's unusually quiet when they're actually travelling, unless he happens to be near enough to someone to exchange a few words to lighten the mood that won't be caught in the howling winds and dampening snow.

Whenever they stop to camp, whether it ends up being in a cave or under an outcrop of rock or whatever else provides the slightest modicum of shelter in the absence of tents, he's basically out immediately. He can be found sprawled in all manner of unlikely places, but on occasions it's too cold for him to sleep easily, he'll instead offer anyone nearby who looks like they're having similar problems a cheerful smile. The weather hasn't done anything to his ability to fake a calm face.]

Are you holding up okay?

--

[b: the glow]

[The warmth of the energy is almost a relief, but Ren knows they have to get rid of the thing, however nice it is to not feel like he's actively freezing to death. It takes him a few attempts to actually force his powers to work, though, the first few tries sending a painful jolt through his limbs as they try to shift form but do so too much, forcing him to abort the attempt before something potentially horrific happens.

Finally, he does manage to wrangle his way into the form of a knight in dark armour, a two-pointed sword in his hand. Something feels off about the balance of it already, and there's a static to it that he doesn't like - he raises the sword, but almost immediately realises that this was not the right decision, and whoever's unlucky enough to be nearby may get an uncharacteristically sharp shout of warning from him.]

Look out! [If whoever it is doesn't look like they're going to react in time, Ren will leap forward to push them beneath the line of fire as a massive, uncontrollable bolt of dark lightning spews from the end of the sword, smashing the hole a little wider as it shoots in to hit the glow. Enjoy the feeling of hair standing on end from static for a few moments after that happens.]

--

[c: wildcard]

[[If you want to do something more specific, feel free to hit me up at reviseleviathan!]]

b

[clickclickbloom]

[There's a moment where it looks like Ruby isn't going to move. She sees the bolt of dark lightning and her eyes go wide in amazement because that is an incredibly cool move and kind of wants to get a better look at it in action.

That is until she literally disappears from view as her power suddenly activates and she's completely disappeared from view.

It would almost seem like she's been completely obliterated by the blast until a moment later she very slowly starts to grow back to her regular height.]

Woah...