EVENT #23: CROSSROADS - IC LOG

[abraxasmods]

Event #23 - Crossroads

OOC Event Log

For the past few weeks, you've been stranded in a foreign territory or have had others stranded with you. Officials have assured everyone that the situation is temporary. They've been working hard to secure negotiations that would return everyone home...if that's what you want, of course. For anybody who wishes to stay in their new territory, authorities have promised that this is entirely possible. No one will be forced to go back if they don't want to.

The letter that arrives in the second week of February will say as much. It'll also emphasize that you must go to the exchange and that every Summoned has to be accounted for, or else the exchange may fall through. Even if you don't plan on returning - or you were never sent somewhere else to begin with - you'll still have to come.

The meeting will be held on neutral ground near the Singularity's now expanded crater but at a safe enough distance away. On FEBRUARY 18, portals will open to take you there.

While we will detail the incident leading up to characters fleeing, the majority of the event will be focused on characters surviving in their respective scenarios.

Remember: once you've chosen a SCENARIO for your character, they'll be rescued by the minor territory assigned to that scenario and will stay in that territory for the duration of March.

At the Exchange

The air of late winter is crisp even in the barren landscape around the crater. The Singularity stands tall and silent to the natives, but the Summoned will feel an electricity in the air. It might be magic seeping out from the cracked ground or it might be the tension that weaves the three mightiest nations closer together. The last time all three met here was for the Peace Summit three years ago. Now they meet again on the brink of war.

The territories have assured you that they anticipate everything to go smoothly. As you arrive, there is an attempt to cultivate a friendly atmosphere: Thorne has brought warm fur cloaks for anyone accidentally in the Free Cities who may be without, the Free Cities steps forward to announce compensation for any Summoned who were employed and could not attend to their job or business under the circumstances, and Solvunn declares it will be hosting an evening feast once all the Summoned have been returned to their rightful places. You even see Thornean mages and Free Cities officials chatting diplomatically, if superficially.

But as the exchange gets underway, the atmosphere begins to shift...and suddenly, nothing is as it seems.

Chaos Erupts

As a Summoned, you feel an electricity in the air. It might be magic seeping out from the cracked ground or it might be the tension that weaves the three mightiest nations.

Stillness falls across the gathering as each side waits for the other to make the first offering. An introduction that necessitates negotiation.

It never comes.

A flash from the north blinds you. Thunder drowns out all sound. The sharp scent of practiced magic rises into the air. Gunfire cracks in response. As explosions erupt around you, the facsimile of diplomacy tears like wet paper. Shouts are barely audible as soldiers, guards, and village elders rush forward.

You find yourself pulled between forces. Are they trying to hurt you, save you, or something else? A Thornean guard pushes you to the side. You can't tell if you were deliberately shoved into the line of fire or if it was an accident in the chaos. Someone else grabs you: a hooded Elder bearing the symbols of the Old Gods and urging you to come with them to safety. They can protect you from these dangerous nations, the Elder insists. The Gods have spoken.

As mayhem bleeds into the ground, the crater begins to shift and grow, reaching out to feed. The earth trembles. The soldiers, guards, and Elders notice too late as the crater expands far quicker than anyone could expect. It shatters stone, uproots trees, and swallows whole the natives who cannot withstand its powerful energy. They disintegrate in front of your eyes. Others cry out warnings and begin to flee - but they can't outrun the Singularity.

You are different. If you are one of the older Summoned, you'll remember being able to enter the Singularity's crater. In the past, it's dragged you into the Horizon...but not this time. Instead, you feel lulled by the crater's encroaching borders. You wonder if your best chance at surviving is to step into the crater where no native of Abraxas can reach you. Some of you might run toward it as a result of this conclusion. But, you may also have your doubts. If you try to flee with the rest, you'll find that you, too, cannot outrun the Singularity. As its reach extends across the entire swathe of neutral territory, you are inevitably sucked into its embrace and flung into a whirlwind.

On the Run

As you are teleported through a whirling vortex, you glimpse flashes of your domain in the Horizon. Indeed, for a few moments, it appears as though the domain itself has emerged and is now in the real world with you. Then you blink, and the sight vanishes, leaving you discombobulated.

Once you've gathered your wits, you realize you're nowhere near the original exchange site. If you attempt to use your powers, the effects are unintended: your fire spell causes rain to fall instead, or perhaps you accidentally summon a broomstick instead of your sword. It might last for a couple of hours or it might last for longer. The more powerful the ability, the longer it seems to take for it to start working correctly.

Regardless, you'll need to find each other somehow. Luckily, the Network is still working, so you can communicate with one another at a distance.

Northern Mountains

Though spring is on its way, the mountains are a tundra. Temperatures are frosty, but not as icy as they would've been a month ago. Maybe you've brought some warm clothes with you or the others have a spare cloak they've packed. You might've even brought a snack or some warming potions. Anything will help as you gather your bearings and try to determine where to go next.

If you were unlucky enough to have been one of the victims of Josselyn Creed's cult, you may recognize these ridges. Of course, everything rather looks the same when it's snowy and full of trees, but it's certainly possible to discern that you've been in these mountains before.

Characters in this scenario will go to NOCWICH.

Threats

◎ Revenant

A hoarfrost revenant has lived on these peaks for centuries. He cannot be killed. You can only run or chase him away, but he'll soon return. Take care not to stay in one place too long. A rattling chain and blue-flamed lantern announce his coming. His touch brings instant death, made clear by the frozen carcasses of animals left in his path.

With your arrival, he is now prowling in search of you...but if you encountered him before on these mountains, you'll notice that something's different this time: he does not attack. Instead, he will stand and watch - and if you, too, watch him for too long, you'll begin to grow warm. You'll then subsequently be overcome with the urge to remove your stifling layers of clothing despite the plummeting temperatures. Best hope someone not under his sway snaps you out of it.

◎ Whiteout

In the morning, you might be eager to get moving again. Perhaps you've been assigned foraging duties or you need to search for more firewood. As you leave your makeshift shelter, you realize the wind is whipping. Soon, a thick blizzard swirls around you, blanketing your surroundings in white. In the distance, you hear eerie howls...and you're not sure where you are anymore.

Be careful you don't trip and fall. With some concentration, you should still be able to find your way back home with the limited visibility...or, you might get lucky and somebody will come to your aid.

Resources

Though the mountains are dangerous, they also have what you need - if you know where to look. Snow hares can be hunted for food and any rations you might've had on your person can be shared among each other. Thick evergreen branches can be used for roofing. Alternatively, you can hunker down in a cave instead.

Most significantly, you can trek to an abandoned cabin containing some prechopped firewood that you can take, as well as an iron pot hanging over the cold hearth. Don't linger in the cabin too long, however. The more you stay, the more it feels like something is watching you. In the shadows, you spot two red eyes flickering in and out. You can't tell what this strange creature is, nor will it stop you from retrieving the few things you need, but eventually, the cabin's door will slowly open on its own, sending a clear message: it's time to leave.

Living Forest

Contrary to its name, the Living Forest is filled with seemingly dead trees. Like the Duskwoods, not much light penetrates, casting your surroundings in a dark gloom. Unlike the Duskwoods, it contains no giant mushrooms. Instead, the ground itself is covered in a thick moss, making every step you take feel as though you're walking upon a layer of marshmallows. Hidden in the moss itself are small vipers waiting to strike, each bite containing a venom that numbs the affected limb for several hours. Hazards are made all the more difficult to see due to the lack of light. While not pitch-black, the forest is gloomy and shrouded in a dark haze.

Those who've been to the Feywilds might not recognize where they are at first, but as you travel, you might notice something familiar: bright green and blue pear-shaped cocoons. Dozens of them hang from branches above you and will soon give birth to the aggressive spindled pear moths. As you study them, they begin to twitch, as if close to hatching. Maybe you shouldn't stay in this area too long...

Characters in this scenario will go to THE FEYWILDS.

Threats

◎ Strange Travelers

As you explore the murky woods, some of the trees shift oddly. You realize they aren't trees at all. Instead, they are figures on stilts, wandering in an endless circle. They do not speak. They are utterly silent.

One of them is holding a human-like infant. The child is also silent. While they won't actively threaten you, they have defended their territory with blinking mines stuck to trees and laid along the ground. The smooth steel and oddly modern lights imply a technology that far exceeds what should exist in Abraxas. Further, the mines don't seem to be powered by any magic at all.

Walk too close to a mine and you'll set it off, releasing a gas that knocks you unconscious. When you wake up, you'll have been dumped someplace far from where you were and must reorient yourself - if you can. Your belongings are untouched and you have no injuries beyond a few bruises or scrapes. It seems these Travelers aren't seeking to harm anyone unnecessarily, but they clearly want to be left alone.

◎ Flytraps

Massive Venus flytrap plants are one of the few plants that appear to flourish in these forests. The plant is difficult to spot in the dim light. Its vines will lash your ankles and trip you, then drag you toward its gaping maw. Its mouth is lined with sharp teeth and a corrosive spit that will burn your skin, eventually dissolving you into a paste. They're most prone to attack if you're carrying something that smells tasty: rations, freshly hunted meat, or foraged mushrooms.

Fortunately, the plants aren't too difficult to kill. A burst of magic or a few slashes from a sharp blade will release you. Still, in a situation such as this, even a twisted ankle or an infected cut could make a difference in your survival. Try to avoid the plants where possible.

Resources

As you explore the Living Forest, you might stumble across an abandoned garden that hasn't been harvested and is in full bloom as if it's spring. A variety of vegetables such as carrots, onions, and cabbages can be found, as well as some herbs for wounds and potions. The area shimmers with Seelie Magic. When you examine the crops closer, you realize that some of the garden is beginning to wilt and rot as the magic fades before your very eyes. A sign of what lies in the Feywilds, it would seem that all things Fey have left this realm altogether, leaving behind only remnants of their diminishing spells.

You can freely harvest the garden. None of the crops appear to be dangerous and the garden looks truly abandoned. However, you'll need to work quickly. The magic won't last until sunrise, so take what you can - you won't have the opportunity to return. Of course, don't overburden yourself, either, or attract predators with what you're carrying.

Open Ocean

Your arrival in the ocean will be more of a shock than the others as you splash into the water. Curiously, though it's still winter, the water isn't as cold as you might expect. It's almost unnaturally warm. As you struggle to stay afloat, the current begins to push you toward something floating in the distance: a large raft covered in moss. It resembles a small land mass, floating in the open sea, with a small curve like a hill or a hump...or the shell of a turtle.

It's possible a few of your fellow Summoned have already found refuge atop the creature's back or you might be among the first. Regardless, you'll want to help search for the others...and the island itself appears to be searching with you. Summoned who have been around a while might remember the Sea Giants who have come to your aid more than once. This may be yet another friendly Sea Giant - not quite the turtle some of you previously met, but perhaps a relative or a friend.

While the creature will try its best to keep you afloat, stormy winds and tall waves will still violently rock the living raft and may sweep away those who aren't careful. Make sure you hang on tight to the vines growing along the surface.

Characters in this scenario will go to THE NETHER.

Threats

◎ Leviathan Attack

Though leviathans are a predictable threat in the ocean, it doesn't make them any less dangerous. Appearing in all shapes and sizes, the one that rises from the water in the dead of night is difficult to discern: you glimpse massive teeth and glowing yellow eyes that, from a distance, resembles the blinking signal of a lighthouse. The leviathan will attack the creature who serves as your raft, who will struggle to defend itself.

You can help in any manner you wish. Attacking the leviathan or casting wards will aid the friendly turtle. While the leviathan is not easy to deter, it can be driven away if faced with enough aggression and will eventually leave in search of easier prey. Don't lose anyone overboard. Any Summoned who falls into the water while the leviathan is attacking will be swallowed up. Avoid its thrashing tail spikes, too.

◎ Aggressive Seabirds

More of a nuisance than a threat, seabirds are a constant menace, squawking day and night and attempting to steal rations, clothes, and other supplies that might be left unattended on the raft. These birds are quick and massive, swooping in and disappearing in an instant. They won't attack without provocation, but anyone trying to take back their belongings will find themselves assaulted by beating wings and sharp talons.

You can chase them off with rocks, sharp objects, or small spells. Supplies can also be warded, but with many people's magic working oddly, the wards might not last as long as they should or may backfire if struck too often by the birds. It may be a good idea to touch up the wards or assign someone to guard your things the old-fashioned way.

Resources

After a rough night, you'll awaken to discover that your raft has brought you to a small island. It's unclear where this island is from or whether anyone has ever mapped it, but nonetheless, the island exists. More importantly, it contains crabs and mussels that can be dug up. You can also find, inexplicably, some coconuts. Possibly bespelled by a Thornean mage who washed ashore in the past, these coconut trees have continued to flourish for decades, if not centuries.

You won't be able to spend long on the island. As the tide rises, more and more of the island begins to disappear. Soon, the water will swallow it up altogether and you'll be forced to board the creature's back again with your findings. Don't get greedy. If you linger too long, your efforts might be washed away with the tide.

Rescue

As your resources dwindle and your situation grows more dire, a glimmer will shine in the distance. You peer at it, curious and, perhaps, a bit anxious. Is it another threat? Is it a rescue? Or is it something else altogether?

Please wait for the WRAP-UP before proceeding to write your character being rescued. Full details will be provided on the Wrap-Up that will help inform what your character will be doing in March, including which NPCs your character will be seeing and the exact manner in which your character will be rescued.

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Comments

cid telamon | from thorne to nether

[judgmentbolts]

⚡ barnabas

[judgmentbolts]

[ Things are not going well for Cid. He wields his sword against the Kraken's lashing tentacles, doing his best to help keep the damned thing's attention on himself or the other Summoned, and away from their meagre supplies. He's had to stay well away from the others as levin crackles around him — for the first time, truly out of his control.

He'd not been planning to use his abilities at all, but it seems whatever is happening with the Singularity or this place has left him without any choice. Levin leaps from his body in great arcs, striking anything or anyone unfortunate enough to get close. Only Nir, his wolf familiar, seems unworried about the lightning. (There's a sharp pain in his side, but he can't worry about it now.)

For the most part, no one gets too close. For the most part, it works... except that Cid is tiring. His shoulder aches with the weight of stone. He ought to back off, regroup. Let someone take his place. The levin has started to ease. Now of all times, it presents less of a threat, and the Kraken's attention is drawn elsewhere. Perhaps if someone else had approached him, he would step back without much of a fuss.

Barnabas is greeted with a sword aimed at his throat. ]

Sod off. [ He sounds more weary than he'd like, but his eyes still glow a bright, aetheric blue. He tightens his grip on the sword. Beside him, Nir crouches, growling. ]

[obscuris]

[ In such a situation, with Cidolfus brought low before him, weak and haggard and struggling, his powers bucking the reins of his control, there should be some measure of pleasure felt. Some measure of satisfaction. And there would be if not for the fact that the same force that has played havoc with Cidolfus' control had also strained his own. He can no longer prime, and Zantetsuken is suddenly too far out of reach to answer his call. He can still call upon his aether, however. Teleport small distances with a great deal of effort. Raise a barrier. If he did not know better he would think that someone was playing games, at great expense to himself.

The blade at his throat shakes. Wavers, in its conviction as Cidolfus' strength begins to give. Barnabas glances at it and then dismisses it with an insulting degree of nonchalance. ]

One would think you would pay more attention to the creature at your back.

[ But they do not have time for this. Barnabas holds out his hand expectantly, familiarly, as though they were touring Ash again and had come across some anomalous beast that might give Barnabas some sport. ] Give me your blade.

[judgmentbolts]

[ Cid bares his teeth in a snarl, too annoyed to have much of a retort. The creature at his back, and the one before him, are equally dangerous as far as he's concerned. It's only when Barnabas speaks again that his brow furrows.

Barnabas has no need of a sword unless he's unable to summon his own. Like Cid, and some of the other Summoned, his abilities must be in flux. He's vulnerable. There won't be a better time. ]

All yours. [ Cid lunges for him, more than willing to drive his blade through Barnabas' throat. Someone else might balk at the idea of attempting to kill an unarmed man, but Cid has no such qualms when the danger is so great. Barnabas had taught him that particularly ruthless calculation, and there was a time when he had been a very good student.

Behind him, Nir's ears twitch. She turns abruptly, barking a warning as the leviathan's tentacles whip toward the pair of them again. ]

[obscuris]

[ For some reason he did not forsee this happening. It was not to long past that Cidolfus attempted to kill him, and yet it never occurred to him that such an admission would result in this. A blind spot, the precise shape and size of his former Lord Commander, perhaps. Or maybe just a particularly bad habit. Barnabas wonders.

Still, this attempt will go much the same as all the others. Cidolfus is in no fit state for it, and so it is simple enough to sidestep him, to grab his sword arm and tug him in, to—

The small creature's barking is enough warning for him to throw up a barrier to block the lash of tentacles. A barrier that requires far more effort than it should and it burns something deep within him to be reduced to cowering this this, defensive like a wounded animal. The crash of the blow against the barrier is thunderous, like the furious advent of a storm and in return Barnabas doubles and redoubles the strength of it.

He could have teleported away. That he chose a barrier instead is... Perhaps bad habit is all too accurate. ]

We do not have time for this. [ He chances a glance Cidolfus, expression unforgiving even as his barrier weathers another blow. ] Give me your blade, Cidolfus.

[judgmentbolts]

[ Tugged off balance, Cid stumbles ungracefully to his knees as the tentacle slams into the barrier. His head snaps up at the impact. He can see the effort of holding the shield up written into every tense line of Barnabas' body. Cid turns enough to hold his own arm up, and bolts of levin streak down from the sky and into the tentacle until it rears back.

It's winding up for another blow, Cid can tell. His eyes dull to their usual green, the surge of magic spent.

Why hadn't Barnabas just left him? By all rights, the only thing he has to offer is a sword, and that's easily retrieved from his corpse. They don't have time for this. Cid's frown deepens, but he flips his grip to hold the sword blade-down, and offers it up while he catches his breath.

He tries not to think of how they might look, a parody of the loyal Lord Commander swearing fealty to his king. ]

Underside. Hide's too thick elsewhere. [ The creature only seemed vulnerable where the darker parts of the tentacle faded to pink, rowed with suction cups... and even then, it was difficult to injure. Little wonder they'd fared so poorly against it, even fully primed. ]

[obscuris]

[ He supposes that one might call it unfair for Cidolfus' power to continue to eat away at him even in death. Would that he had stayed in Waloed. Barnabas could have seen him released from such a burden. From many a burden, made akashic to do naught but serve— not a false god, no, no longer that, but perhaps...

I swear it, Cidolfus had once said so fiercely, on his knees like—

Time narrows to the space between heartbeats. Cidolfus' wrist turns to present his sword and Barnabas' grip slips, slides down past the worn leather of his gloves. Skin to skin now and hot with aether. On his knees. Ready to serve—

My blade is yours, Cidolfus doesn't say.

For crown and country, Cidolfus doesn't say.

My liege, he doesn't say.

Barnabas takes the blade. There is something deliberate about it, the way he eases Cidolfus' grip, the way his own curls around the hilt. Barnabas takes the blade but Cidolfus lingers, hand reluctant to part with it, and so the moment drags on, skin to skin, liege and knight. And then it is his, and the weight of it in his hand is its own relief. He swings the blade once, to get the measure of it, and suddenly remembers a different blade, a perfect moment, a sigh of relief as he opened Cidolfus up, back to front, and drowned them both in his blood.

One good turn deserves another, he thinks, staring at the top of Cidolfus' bowed head, but in the end Barnabas releases him and steps away. Dismisses the barrier as the tentacle comes hurtling back and this time he sends it back himself, his blade scoring a deep cut on the underside.

You'll give us a good bout, won't you, Cidolfus doesn't say.

Given half a chance I could have taken it too, Cidolfus doesn't say. ]

Try not to get underfoot.

[ He launches himself forward and into the fight. ]