agentlelog | event: a gentle explosion

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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.]

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[ ohhh- definitely going to grab some bread for something. it'll be nice to chew on something that aren't supplements and tabs for once.

but something catches his attention: ]

Stranger? [ at first, daylight wants to go yeah he's a stranger. they don't know each other all that well. (he hopes to change that soon because becoming friends with people is neat. that's neither here nor there however.)

then he gives it some thought now he has a feeling this means something else in this world. better inquire further while he tries to make himself eat his porridge- ] Are there other, um, Strangers in this place?

[The banana is halfway to his open mouth when Rhus stops, tilts his head, his ears wiggling again.]

Aye, we're surrounded by fellows who aren't from 'round Draega. More comin' in soon, I expect. [Now he takes a bite of his fruit, chewing and savoring it before he elaborates further-- food is food after all, no matter the colour.] They call us Strangers, 's more polite than other words what could've been used, bein' honest.

Oh.

[ he takes a bite out of his porridge and thank goodness it's bland. his tanks churn at the thought of folks being angry with him for being around. not a fun thing to experiene, let him tell you...

trying to hide his worry, he grins and wiggles his winglets to give off an air of confidence. ]

Guess we gotta prove we're worth keeping around, huh? We're here to help them out after all! It's why I'm-

[ he stops, remembering to modulate his voice so he isn't 'booming' to humanoid standards. ]

It's why I'm planning to help out with these 'Guilds' I've been hearing about a lot. Probably going to see them tomorrow or the day after.

[Rhus shakes his head at that, ears swaying gently with the motion.]

They'll be keepin' us 'round whether they like it. The Queen-- she wants us here. [At a cost to herself, he doesn't say. He's not at liberty to discuss her health with anybody.]

But nothin' stoppin' anyone from movin' out, I s'pose. But... here is where I stay, nowhere else. And you might want to hold off on your plans first, until the city's managed to recover some. It's had a rough go of things, lately.

... How rough exactly? [ he frowns now, his expression becoming clouded with worry upon receiving the warning and the advice.

he knew he was supposed to help out here, given the arrangement he agreed to. he could also tell there's some funny stuff going on thanks to some of the (concerning) gossip he's been hearing. ]

I've- I've heard mutterings about the 'landen' and the 'Guilds' when coming by. [ it's how he got the idea to see them, honestly. ]

Some landen Hunters broke in last month, tried to assassinate us all. Same night, a fire broke out here in the city, an' more Hunters tried to kill anyone who attempted to put it out.

[Rhus takes a moment to put the banana back down on the table, and pull out his pipe, a small, thin silver thing with a dragon engraved upon it, and inspects the bowl to check if it still has some of the weed inside. Then he pulls out his tobacco pouch and goes through the motions of rolling his weed into small balls to fit into the pipe bowl.

He needs a smoke.]

The landens don' like us much, still.

Um. [ ummmmmm. ]

That's rough. [ really, daylight? that's all you have to say?

really. because what can one say when learning something like that happened to a bunch of people? a bunch of people, mind you, who are here to help out.

he looks down at his porridge and gives it a poke before sighing, pushing it away. he'll eat it later, judging servant passing by. he would like to be kind of serious for a second. ]

... I'm glad you're okay. [ that's a start. he hopes it's a start. ] Is there anyone who still needs help from the fires from last month? Did anything, like, get burned down or something?

[ maybe he can help out with that. with his height and proportional strength, he could make some things faster for the ones trying to get back on their feet. ]

[Rhus shakes his head, though that's not a no. He's more tired of what happened last month, and how things became so grim so quickly.]

Many things got burned to the ground. [The implication being that houses, buildings, and much more were ruined... if you name it, it was likely there, or turned to ash.] It weren't a pretty sight out there.

You'll need to be askin' someone aside myself 'bout it though, 'specially if you want to help.

[ daylight hums in acknowledgement, reminding himself to look for someone to speak with about this angle. he maybe new here but he's eager to prove himself and show he's going to give it his all to help others out.

now armed with an idea of how to go forward, daylight manages to go into his porridge with renewed enthusiasm. well, as much enthusiasm he can muster for almost tasteless porridge. ] Gotcha! I'll see to that after breakfast. Maybe someone needs a hand or two.

Thanks for the heads up and for talking to me at all. I gotta admit - It's nice to meet someone who doesn't immediately gawk or yell when I try to chat with them.

[ one of the people he passed by had, memorably, blurted out, 'you can talk?' when he went, 'excuse me!' to their direction.

which is... rude. super rude. ]

[Rhus looks up, his ears wiggling almost in amusement.]

You're not the first big robot person I ever met, even if you're not clockwork like most others. [Now he goes back to his banana, polishing it off easily. Then he pulls out his tobacco pouch after he tosses the skin onto the surface of the table, ready for an after meal smoke.

He's only counting himself fortunate that this big robot person just wants to have a chat, not have a fight.]

Don' want to boast much... but I have seen a lot in my life.

[ ~~everyone is lucky it's daylight and not nightbreak who got the dream, huh?~~

oh! oh ho ho ho...!

daylight's winglets hitch up, now all but flapping in excitement while his optics glow in intrigue and excitement by the words. breakfast has officially been forgotten on daylight's end because something more important (in his opinion) has popped up. ]

Oh no you’ve gotta brag! Like- Brag much as you want if you're up for it. [ daylight leans forward, mindful of his weight as he props his elbows on the table and cradles his helm in his servos. ] I love hearing stuff like this from new faces I've just met. [ because- seriously!

you can't say stuff like that and not keep going!! ]

Mmm... [He so rarely finds someone who wants him to boast, usually only the wandering minstrel and Khloe want to hear his stories, everyone simply just assumes his exploits from what people spread about him.

He wont say that he led a group of friends and practically rampaged through the body of Alexander to destroy it because it posed a threat to the world, his world. That wouldn't go over well, he thinks.

Instead... maybe he'll speak of something else instead. Like a robot he only recently met, but is surprisingly still alive despite the beating it took from Rhus and friends.]

D'you dance?

Oh! Um....

[ daylight looks down at the table now, laughing sheepishly as he rubs the back of his neck. given how bubbly and energetic he's being during most of this chat, it could be considered a bit of whiplash for him to now act like this.

he clears his vocoder, his face flushing from... embarrassment? ] Yeah! No! I mean...

I mean- I do and I can but, um, I try not to if I can. [ he whispers this part now, which is a bit silly given his size, but daylight is trying. ] Bad stuff happens when I dance.

[ wait what. ]

[Rhus goes through the motions of filling the bowl of his pipe with weed, gently plucking a little bit of the thin, cut weed and rolling it between two fingers to make a ball to stuff into the bowl.

He's very, very politely ignoring Daylight's reactions to being asked whether or not he can dance.

Not his business, after all. It's a mantra oft repeated throughout his life as of late, ever since he became an adventurer and started performing deeds other people would rather not. Have a delivery to make but afraid of crossing a field of ladybugs? Not his business to ask. Cant cook bacon bread for some odd reason and needs Rhus to do it? Not his business to ask.]

Construct 8 danced. O' course, he was hostile for a moment 'cause he was a defense system for an ancient civilization, but he calmed down enough. Had to do some math equations first, but when I looked in on him after my business in the city, he was dancin'.

[ he's a little afraid that rhus would tease or make fun of daylight's answer or his flustered state about dancing. that seems to be everyone's go to reaction whenever this branch of conversation pops up.

but no- instead, rhus makes the (very wise) decision to politely ignore daylight's, er, everything and instead tells a tidbit from his world that's related to the subject matter. it helps put daylight at ease and helps him refocus on the (cool) topic. rhus' cool points, like, quadrupled from that alone. ]

Oh- Oh wow! [ daylight's winglets perk up, wiggling now from how happy day is. ] That's so cool to hear. I don't think I've ever come across something like that before during my travels with my ship, honestly.

[ he's only been travelling for what? a few years, give or take? from what he can pick up from rhus' demeanour and everything, he happens to have experience (and stories!) in spades.

which, likes, makes him only cooler. more points for him. ]

Construct 8 sounds super neat! I'm glad you guys were able to hash out your differences and got to know each other better. [ and now, the important question: ] How big was he? Bigger than me?

[ because daylight is considered tiny in his world. he always suspects beings like construct 8 being bigger. ]

I weren't even up to his knee. ... Not that I'm overly tall, really. [Five feet and five inches? No, not tall at all. For his kind he's dreadfully average in height, and for other humans he's just short despite his thick, wide build.] Still, the tallest of my companions at that time did just barely reach his knee. Er, ball-joint.

[Whatever that part would be for a clockwork machine, in any case.]

His knee was nearly eight fulms high? I cant tell much-- he often hunkered down in a squat.

Edited 2019-03-21 02:44 (UTC)

Eight fulms high? Really? He definitely sounds pretty tall to me! [ okay okay okay! cards on the table:

daylight has no idea how that can be converted into feet and inches so he doesn't know if that's true or not. but it sounds pretty impressive to him and rhus, again, isn't fazed by his appearance or his height. ]

And I guess from the way you talk about Construct 7, it sounds like he isn't with you, huh?

[ daylight is going to be the only big buddy in the gang, huh. ]

He's at his city. [Rhus shrugs.] He was created as a guardian, no reason for him to go gallivantin' off to gods know where.

[In the end, he doesn't have the same sort of intelligence Daylight has, who definitely converses as a person, than a machine created to be the most advanced clockwork golem of his time.]

Awww- That's disappointing to hear. It would be nice to not be the only one who's ever seven feet.

[ but details, details. daylight leans closer - close he can get, without causing the table to tip over - and lets his winglets wiggle. ]

Can you tell me more about him and what it means to be a guardian? Like- Does he have rules and stuff he has to follow? That sounds really cool!

[ plus- it'll let him ask more information if names and terms he's never heard of comes up. that'll be allow him to ask more questions and learn more about rhus along the way.

rhus seems like a really cool guy so day would love to get to know him better. ]

[ ooc; I think this is a good place to end! We can say it's a fade to black where Rhus tells more about his world and Day hangs onto his every word. Can't wait for us to have more threads with them...! :> ]

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event: a gentle explosion

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i'm an idiot and got my numbers mixed up, i realized it's construct 7 after a rerun of the raid

we totally were referencing construct 7 during our thread. o /

god bless you

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