event: a gentle explosion

[thestewards]

I see a world just out of reach
With shoulders of giants at my feet
There’s not a challenge I’m afraid to meet

► The OOC plotting post for this event can be found here.

► Direct all questions to the mods at this link.

STRANGERS IN A STRANGE LAND
You wake, warm and comfortable, and realize that you’re no longer where you were when you went to sleep. The dream was real. As you clamber out of bed and open your door, an impassive footman greets you and leads you to breakfast in a large hall filled with many, many people. They sit around a hodgepodge of tables in a mishmash of furniture—nothing matches anything else, and no two chairs are the same.

The woman from your dream catches your eyes. She stares at you with open shock. “Well,” she says, as a number of males turn to her with withering looks. “This wasn’t supposed to happen.” She smiles at you. “Welcome to Draega, Stranger. Please, join us.”

Join them at the table and have your breakfast, Stranger. There isn’t much to offer: porridge, water, a bit of milk, some wrinkled fruits, and bread. Coffee, thankfully, is not in short supply. Meet your fellow Strangers, both the ones choosing to live at the Queen’s Residence and those who arrived in the night with you.

As breakfast draws to a close, the Queen’s Steward, Prince Loren Sorey, explains that you may choose to find your own home or stay in the residence for as long as you please. Those who stay will receive a modest stipend but are required to participate in Allairavar’s morning trainings every day. At dawn. Before breakfast. Those who go will need to find their own homes among the ruined buildings of the city and make their own money.

The court begins filtering out of the Great Hall, dispersing to attend their many duties. Linger, Stranger, and overhear…

“What did you mean?” The man leaning over the Queen is Prince Allairavar. His membranous wings flare around him, and his expression is menacing. “This wasn’t supposed to happen?”

Queen Fayura doesn’t look at all alarmed by the massive man caging her against a wall. “It was a one-time spell,” she says. “The web was—” Her eyes go wide. “I need to go look at the web.” She ducks under Allairavar’s arm, which could put a tree trunk to shame, really, grabs Prince Verim, and drags him from the hall.

Allairavar bares his teeth at the wall and snarls. The sound rumbles through the room, and dark temper washes briefly through the residence before all the tangled webs tucked in corners absorb it, leaving the building peaceful and clean of psychic feeling once more.

A TALE OF TWO IDEALS
At exactly 5:46pm, an explosion rocks the city of Draega. Black clouds belch fire to the northwest of the city. Concurrently, in Old Town, a mob of landens armed with Breakers and Muters descends on The Last Meal. They surround an older, Blood woman.

i. Black Out
The power plant maintained by the Tinkers and the Elektrics has exploded. Across Draega, e-line appliances shut down and the city plunges into darkness—the sun set some 45 minutes ago.

Prince Loren reaches out to approximately half the Strangers, asking them to go to the power plant. He shares a mental map with them so they know how to reach the building, as well as the Craft used for air-walking. The tutorial is quick and hardly complete, but now you’ll be able to run above the city to reach your destination.

The power plant burns. Black smoke pours into the air. Master Elektric Doriah organizes the Tinkers and Elektrics who were able to escape on their own. A quick glance reveals how absolutely exhausted she is. When Strangers approach, she sneers but isn’t about to turn away good help.

“There are still people inside. The Blood who did this trapped us in shields.” She hesitates only a moment before collecting Breakers from guildmembers carrying them. “Take these. Your Jewel may not be able to break through the shields.”

Inside, well-ordered building is a mess of fire and melting steel. Airwalking protects your feet, and shields can keep out the heat, but you’ll need something more to protect your lungs. Put out fires, stop systems from overloading, save the machines from complete destruction, and rescue missing workers who are suffocating and cooking inside shields. The guildmembers trapped in the power plant will assist the Strangers who free them, helping mitigate the damage done to the plant and keep it from exploding the rest of the way.

ii. Death of a Councilwoman
Councilwoman Vera enjoys dinners at The Last Meal, and this is well known by everyone in the city. Today, public knowledge of her schedule doesn’t work so well in her favor.

As she approaches the restaurant with her family, a group of landens descends on them. Muters prevent the Blood from taking any action that isn’t purely physical, and this is enough to throw most of them off their stride; they’re used to relying on Craft to fight. The landens separate Vera from her family in a short-lived brawl. She shouts and screams—“Let me go! Don’t you know who I am? The Queen will have you executed for this! Your families will be thrown out of the city! You’re making a mis—”

A shot rings through the air.

The landens peel away from one of their own, a young man gripping a Breaker in both hands. He trembles as he stands over Councilwoman Vera, whose expression is frozen forever in shocked disbelief. Her body crumples to the ground, blood from a gunshot wound on her chest staining the white fabric of her blouse.

In the silence that follows the shot, Allairavar shoves free of the crowd. “Go home!” he snarled, Craft powering his voice.

No one moves.

Except the young landen man. He takes off at a run, and the crowd is still too horrified to do much to stop him. Allairavar wastes no time. He plunges after the young man. At the same time, he reaches out to the minds of the Strangers closest to Old Town. *The Ebon Council is, collectively, a sack of reeking shit, and Lady Vera was a bitch,* Allairavar tells the Strangers. *But if we don’t get between the Blood and the landens, we’ll have another war. We can’t afford another war. Keep them from killing each other while I deal with this idiot.*


AIR TIME
Whether you catch the news on a Far-caster in the city or you’re spinning the dial on your own device, you’ll hear…

the news
…angered local landen families by her hard-line position that Blood homes should receive priority as the city continues to recover from the fires set by the Hunter Guild last month. [The man speaks at a brisk pace, hurried and harried as though he has too much to say and not enough time to say it.]

Councilwoman Vera is known for her vocal disdain for the landen Guilds, isn’t that right, Garret? [Another man, nasally in tone. He doesn’t sound rushed so much as put upon.]

[Garret:] Correct, Wilt. She—excuse the interruption, but we are just now hearing— [The feed abruptly cuts off. Static pours from the Far-caster regardless of what local channel it is tuned to.]

Comments

[portable]

strangers in a strange land;

[ good morning, new arrivals! despite his self-imposed insistence on learning independence, parado has not yet moved out of the queen's residence. he isn't a fan of the routine, but he also isn't at all sure which way he should take himself to move out without stranding himself or starving (needing to eat was so inconvenient), so here he remains.

the new faces at the breakfast table have him scanning the room carefully for anyone he knows. once again he finds himself tapping at his chest like he's trying to attune it to something, but when nothing changes, he bites rather roughly into the bread he was holding. he looks put out, as if he was expecting something only to be let down.

later, he might end up reaching over you for the coffee, or you may find him going on a quest to find more sugar. his table seems to have run out. ]

'Scuse me. Are you using that?

a tale of two ideals;

black out 1
[ fire again.

parado chooses to ignore the airwalking tutorial for now, instead teleporting in bursts to approach the problem area. as a result of his slightly quicker travel, he's seemingly one of the first to arrive. the red jewel around his neck winks in the flames, and he isn't even offered a breaker - his strength is in an obvious place, clear as day.

if you arrive early too, you'll find parado out the front of the burning building, coat billowing behind him as he assesses the situation as best he can. he's half talking to himself, and half taking to whomever is around. ]

Getting the workers out is the first priority. Anything else comes later, okay? [ a pause ] But just in case, is anyone like, actually good with technology or engineering?

black out 2
[ not long after that, if you're lucky, you can watch him transform before heading into the building. reaching into his coat pockets, he pulls out a bulky belt and a strange cartridge of some kind, inserting the cartridge into the belt and holding a pose. ]

Max Dai Henshin.

[ oh yeah, that's a flashy transformation sequence right there. ]

black out 3
[ as a result, later inside, you'll instead run into a brightly coloured suit of armour(???) moving about the facility using a combination of airwalking and pixelly teleporting. parado seemed to have figured out that his rider suit's helmet was equipped with a pretty decent air filter. it didn't really help the weirdly sticky feeling the smoke left when he teleported, though, so he's favouring the airwalking for now.

he's come across a pair trapped behind green shields, in a particularly flame-filled area. they don't have long, one already passed out. the burning debris has enclosed them, and even with parado able to break the shield or clear the path, he can't do both with enough time to get both trapped workers out safely. ]

Hey, someone help me out! There's people stuck in here!

[ his voice carries easily, though slightly echo-y through his helmet. ]

wildcard;

(( start your own prompt, see him doing other things during or post-power plant rescue, or hit me up at yagyuu to talk something out! ))

black out 2

[arrogator]

Whoa, what the hell was that?!

[Yeah, sorry, she has no other reaction. On paper it isn't entirely dissimilar from how she summons her armor, but it's also completely different and super garish...but also kind of cool. Not that she'll say as much. And now's not really the time to be standing here, her mouth hanging open in surprise at this, but it's all so very very strange and unexpected.]

[portable]

[ oh, he's drawn some attention. he doesn't hate that, and he does a little flourish with his hand that settles into a short wave. ]

It's my transformation. Pretty cool, right?

[ usually he'd go into a bit more detail, but. yeah. now isn't the time. after a moment of trying to remember her name- ]

You're... Mordred? Can you help out with this kind of operation?

[arrogator]

Y-yeah.

[Still kind of thrown off by it. Give her a moment. In fact, she'll use that moment to summon her own armor which...isn't nearly as flashy and doesn't have a cool transformation callout.]

Yeah, I can help. Of course I can.

[She's about 80% sure she's got this. Maybe 85% sure.]

[portable]

[ if he wasn't masked right now, you would be able to see the surprise on his face at mordred's armour appearing. since you can't see that, he lets out a short laugh to show that he's impressed.

time for some crosscanon terminology confusion? i think yes. ]

Wait, are you a Rider? That's a nice form.

[arrogator]

No, Saber.

[Her tone's a little sterner here. Not much, but if this guy knows class names, then maybe giving her name was a mistake.

...also if she were a Rider things would probably be even stranger since she'd be in a swimsuit wielding a surfboard made from one of her father's treasures. Her canon's weird, okay?]

[portable]

Saber… huh.

[ nope, that means very little to him outside of its usual definition. he can probably hear the confusion in his tone, and it's both from the foreign terminology and her change in tone. ]

Maybe it's different, then. [ parallel worlds sure are weird! ] You look like kind of like a Rider, though. What colour's your jewel? If we're shield breaking, there might be some tough ones in there.

[arrogator]

Yeah, probably.

[She has no idea what's different, but she'll go with that.]

And it's green. Yours?

strangers in a strange land.

[unwieldy]

[ Having spent a month in this place has gotten Haein used to quite a few things. He's been doing his best to keep a low profile, stay out of the way for the most part, and do as ordered by those in a position of authority.

It's okay. He's met a few annoying people over the course of his stay, but the meetings are generally short-lived and he normally doesn't have to deal with them again.

Parado, unfortunately, makes Haein's shit list, and he would've been happy never to see him again, but here he is now reaching over for the coffee on his side of the table.

And maybe Haein is petty enough to drag that coffee further away from Parado's reach. ]

I am.

[ He clearly isn't. ]

[portable]

[ so mayyybe he should have been paying attention to who he'd been approaching. when haein gives him that icy reply, parado lets out an undisguised, irritated sigh - he's in half a mind to teleport to the other side of the table and just swipe the jar, but instead he crosses his arms and scowls.

that was still option b available, anyway. ]

What's your problem? Are you just a pain all the time?

[ Parado: Master Negotiator. ]

[unwieldy]

[ Oh gods, where to even start? The number of problems he has can't be counted, and it doesn't help that Haein knows this. ]

Yes, [ said very matter-of-factly. ] Didn't you know? My sole reason for being is to annoy you.

[ He's obviously being sarcastic, but his petty, grudge-holding ass hasn't forgotten how their first meeting went down. ]

[portable]

You need a new hobby. Have you considered video games?

[ really uncaring about personal space and etiquette, especially with someone he has no respect for, he's just going to lean across the table and try to grab the jar anyway. ]

[unwieldy]

[ But what if Haein just goes on continuing to be an asshole and pushes the jar out of reach some more? ]

A waste of time.

[portable]

[ then he will keep leaning. parado doesn't care about the table or whether he ends up bumping haein or not, he's got the long reach of a decently tall person and he's gonna use it.

however he does pause and affix haein with the most poisonous glare (which is actually pretty damn poisonous) he can muster at that comment. How Dare You. ]

No wonder you're no fun.

black out 3

[mollymocked]

Got it!

[Molly's barely registered who even spoke before he's diving in, seemingly less perturbed by the fire and smoke than he should be- thank you infernal heritage. The moonbow-shaped green Jewel around his neck glows as he focuses on trying to shatter the shields. Given they're the same color, it's not easy, and requires a tremendous amount of focus and patience he sorely lacks at this moment.]

...You might have to give me a moment. Just keep clearing. I'll be fucking useless at that part, anyway. [He didn't get a Breaker because he doesn't trust those stupid noisemakers, and now he's sort of regretting it, but, still. He can't lift for shit.]

[portable]

Thanks. I'm on it.

[ he recognises the voice but can't put a face to it for the moment, focused on using the handaxe he's carrying to continue hacking through the combination of masonry and destroyed equipment. the added strength of his rider armour means he's more than capable of lifting larger pieces away once they're free.

after finally clearing enough away to get a clear look through the flames, he lets out a short laugh when he sees molly. ]

Oh, it's you! I'll come help in a moment, just let me - [ he tugs at a piece that won't come loose, gives an irritated huff and smacks the button on his weapon a few times. 3-renda! it chirps quite happily, the resulting slash downward shattering the chunk of equipment completely. ] - ugh, let me get a path through here for them.

[mollymocked]

No rush! ...Well, a little rush. [He's recognized, but he's having a bit more trouble with someone in full armor like that. Give him a moment to focus and he'll be right on that. He scrunches his eyes shut and with one last push the shield shatters and the people trapped inside stumble out.] There you go. Just follow the path.

[He leans down and helps them up, guiding them towards the path that's being made for them, while trying to shield them from any licking flames as they go.]

[portable]

[ parado doesn't look over as he hears molly usher the workers out, too preoccupied with making sure the path was clear enough that neither of the scared pair would trip and hurt themselves further, or burn themselves on anything still alight.

with his own craft shield he tries to hold the flames at bay, keeping the way clear of stray sparks. the one who had been looking weak is still struggling, though, and as molly guides them to where parado is waiting and they all move away from immediate danger he pauses just in time to catch them as they fall. ]

Hey-! Hey, are you okay?

[ their lids are fluttering, a sign of life, but their breathing is shallow and weak. parado looks to molly through his helmet, his handaxe having vanished back into hammerspace with both hands now supporting the unconscious worker. ]

Do you know any healing magic, or- this might not be the space for it. [ he's running through options in his head, as quick as possible. ] Getting them out like this is gonna be hard, but I can- I can try something.

[mollymocked]

I would try whatever you've got in mind. I'm... Not much of a healer yet. [He's not the cleric. He may never be the cleric. What he is right now is flame-resistant and surprisingly hardy.

But not very strong, as evidenced by how he struggles to drag one of them back onto their feet to try and haul them into some sort of carry that will do any good. No dice. His lithe tiefling form is not meant for this.] And I know I'm not gonna be any good at carrying them.

[portable]

Okay. Alright. I can only do this once, I think.

[ he hefts the unconscious worker over one shoulder in a fireman's carry, looking around. ]

Can you find a way out for the other one? The way I came through was pretty clear, and I'll be back as soon as I can. [ which... he has no idea how much this will take out of him, if it even works. ] You seem like you've got a good handle on this stuff, though.

[ and with that encouraging statement, parado vanishes in a blur of pixels that seem to glitch and streak with red for a moment - but he and the worker both disappear. ]

black out 1

[thedarkbond]

I'm more familiar with it than I think some people here might be, but I don't know if that counts as "actually good"...

[The voice comes from slightly behind Parado, from a young man with long red hair who's in the process of taking off his coat. It's made somewhat more awkward by the breaker he's having to move from hand to hand as he does - Ren isn't wearing his jewel anywhere visible, but it's probably safe to assume from the weapon that he's at least a few tiers lower than Red.

While Ren's tone is relatively serious, there's a lightness to it that says he's trying not to let the mood get to him. It's a bad situation all around, but letting it seep into them isn't going to do anything but make people crack when it's most important that they don't.]

I'm hoping a few of us have been here longer than since this morning, too...

[portable]

[ parado turns to look over his shoulder, and ren's appearance is interesting enough that he approaches slowly to give him a better look. the breaker in ren's hand doesn't surprise him, since he'd seen them being passed around.

he tilts his head to one side, expression one of contemplation. ]

That's the only positive response I've heard at all, so. Better than nothing. [ a frown. ] I've been here all month. Just this morning and you're jumping right into things, huh?

[thedarkbond]

Oh, maybe there's even less modern people here than I thought... [Ren doesn't look too surprised at that, honestly. Of the people he spoke to at breakfast, Piper had been about the only one he'd thought might be from a similar time to him.

Ren sighs a bit at the mention of jumping right into things, though, finally managing to get his coat off and starting to fold the sleeves back the right way.] Mmm, I don't really have much of a choice, do I...? If people are going to be rude and uninteresting and do things like this...

[That is probably an extremely polite way of putting what exactly the people who did this are, but Ren's actual opinion of the matter is staying right there in his head.] This sort of thing doesn't happen often, does it?

[portable]

It doesn't seem like a lot, but some people are also cagey, so it could be more than I think.

[ he shrugs. that was their problem, as far as he was concerned right now. more important things in order than prying into backstories... for now. and that includes ren. ]

It's kind of the second big thing in a month, so... I guess that counts as often. Things are kind of tense around here.

[thedarkbond]

Mmm, I think there's cagey people like that wherever you go, right? [He knows plenty of people who probably wouldn't admit that sort of thing if they were in this situation. He himself finds it can be a useful point to form connections that might come in handy later, though.

Ren blinks a bit at the mention of this being the second incident in a month, though, before he sighs slightly.] I guess I should have expected that...honestly, people who do this sort of thing are so boring...

[Now that his coat is back the right way, he's looking around their area for...something. Specifically a water source of some kind, because if he's using his coat as a mask here he should probably damp it first.]

It wasn't the same sort of thing as this, was it?