thestewards: (Default)
the stewards ([personal profile] thestewards) wrote in [community profile] agentlelog2019-02-19 07:00 pm

event: a gentle explosion




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.]

illequipped: (33)

[personal profile] illequipped 2019-02-25 12:10 am (UTC)(link)
[This dude!! Emil is this close to flipping his whole porridge bowl in Haein's face, but somehow he resists. Somehow.]

No one made you watch! It's your own fault if you're bored now.
unwieldy: (final push.)

[personal profile] unwieldy 2019-02-25 02:57 am (UTC)(link)
[ Openly scoffs!! Gosh, who made Haein such an expert on making friends? ]

I guess it is my own fault for listening to an idiot like you.
illequipped: (ugggggggggggggggggghhhhh)

[personal profile] illequipped 2019-02-26 01:46 am (UTC)(link)
[What a bully... this is Real Bullying...]

That— hmph. [He was going to agree with everything being Haein's Fault until he got called an idiot? Nice save, Emil.] Are you always this pleasant?
unwieldy: (who can i hire.)

[personal profile] unwieldy 2019-02-28 02:55 am (UTC)(link)
[ He can get up to So Much Worse Bullying. Don't test him!! ]

Not always. It must be something about your...

[ Vaguely gestures toward Emil. ]

... everything.
illequipped: (98)

[personal profile] illequipped 2019-03-01 01:49 am (UTC)(link)
[He actually looks down at himself, like that will illuminate some innate Something about him that's so offensive. Ugh!!]

What's that supposed to mean!!
unwieldy: (pretty soon gonna run outta space.)

[personal profile] unwieldy 2019-03-01 07:10 am (UTC)(link)
[ Oh no, Haein is actually going to look fake sympathetic for this.

Leans forward like he's got a big secret to share, dropping his voice down to a whisper. ]


You don't know?
illequipped: (33)

[personal profile] illequipped 2019-03-02 03:22 am (UTC)(link)
[This is bait.jpg

Even Emil can recognize this as a ruse. He can. But!!! There's always the minute possibility!!]


Know what? I don't understand anything you're talking about!
unwieldy: (surely someone will understand.)

[personal profile] unwieldy 2019-03-02 08:31 am (UTC)(link)
[ Bless his heart.

Honestly? Emil reminds Haein of someone he'd rather not be reminded of. It bothers Haein a lot, to the point where he feels petty and unreasonable enough to take out his anger toward that other person on Emil.

But alright, here's the big secret. ]


... And you never will. Because you're just that stupid.
illequipped: (it was a mistake)

[personal profile] illequipped 2019-03-03 05:45 am (UTC)(link)
I'm not stupid! I went to school.

[He says this like it's somehow remarkable, and to be fair, it is... at home in the post-apocalyptic hellhole he comes from.

But he still sounds like an 8-year-old trying to sound smart.]
unwieldy: (lmao i'm really thinking.)

[personal profile] unwieldy 2019-03-04 01:00 am (UTC)(link)
[ This is entirely unremarkable where Haein's from, so he doesn't get what the big deal is?? ]

Practically everyone goes to school.

[ Sounds confused, but no letting up on the insults!! ]

Though it doesn't seem to have helped you very much.
illequipped: (burns down a house)

[personal profile] illequipped 2019-03-04 01:19 am (UTC)(link)
Well, you're wrong, but that's not a surprise. Hardly anyone goes to school.

[Only gold star brainiacs like Emil go to school, obviously.]

Of course, it's a miserable waste of time, but that's beside the point.
unwieldy: (pretty soon gonna run outta space.)

[personal profile] unwieldy 2019-03-05 02:20 am (UTC)(link)
[ There might be a slight look of dismay on Haein's face when he realizes what that means. People rarely go to school in Emil's world, so that means?? Emil?? Is considered smart??

Wow, what must the rest of the people in his world be like... ]


So you were a bad student. [ Leans back again with a shrug. ] It shows.
illequipped: (SLEEP YOU FUCK)

[personal profile] illequipped 2019-03-05 02:40 am (UTC)(link)
[Yes AND no!! But Emil definitely thinks he is very smart, so take that as you will.]

That's not what I meant at all!! It's the school that's the problem!
unwieldy: (lordy i hope none of these first words.)

[personal profile] unwieldy 2019-03-05 07:08 am (UTC)(link)
[ He's heard that excuse before!! ]

That sounds like something a terrible student would say.
illequipped: (98)

[personal profile] illequipped 2019-03-06 12:44 am (UTC)(link)
[how DARE you read him like this]

No, it's true! Have you ever been to public school? It's terrible!
unwieldy: (maybe apple? microsoft??)

[personal profile] unwieldy 2019-03-07 05:16 am (UTC)(link)
All my schools were public schools.

[ And he's been to quite a few!! Are they terrible? Yes. Is he going to openly agree with Emil? No. ]

It's not that bad.
illequipped: (ugh lalli)

[personal profile] illequipped 2019-03-08 11:36 pm (UTC)(link)
[Emil actually, genuinely leans away from him.]

This explains so much about you.
unwieldy: (THAT'S HOW MUCH I HATE THIS.)

[personal profile] unwieldy 2019-03-09 04:31 am (UTC)(link)
[ WOW?? He is so personally offended now. ]

I'm not going to blame my schools for how things might have turned out for me. [ Shitty. He turned out shitty and he knows this. ] That's what small, weak-minded people do.
illequipped: (here he is)

[personal profile] illequipped 2019-03-09 07:09 am (UTC)(link)
[Emil gives him a look as if to say don't worry, he is already blaming these schools in Haein's stead. It all makes sense now! This terrible boy is terrible because of Public School.]

Sure, whatever. You don't have to defend school.
unwieldy: (for one person.)

[personal profile] unwieldy 2019-03-10 03:55 am (UTC)(link)
[ Rolls his eyes!! Shakes his head!! What nonsense... ]

That's not what I... [ sighs ] Forget it. Talking to you is like talking to a stupid child.