Event Log: July, A Song of the Sea

[faileas]

Event Log: July, A Song of the Sea

I. Now You Sea Me On the night of the 15th, all Mirrorbound will have the same strange dream. Like many dreams they’re subjected to, it feels very, very real. The ocean stretches far out on every side, the waves churning beneath your feet as you walk atop the water. The sky is gray and the air is thick with the pressure of an oncoming storm, making your hair stand on end every time lightning flashes high above in the dark clouds. In the distance you can see the whirlpool, frothing water sucking in everything that gets too close, including low-swooping birds and ships that try to skirt it. The Cwyld is here, and it feels as if it is here to stay. Maybe you’re trying to puzzle out where you find yourself with another Mirrorbound or maybe you’re alone, but suddenly you’re interrupted, a presence inserting itself between you, ancient but somehow friendly. You get the sense this person doesn’t want to harm you. He(?) (you think he’s a he, and he won’t put up a fuss either way, despite his androgyny) is tall, thin, and sun-tanned, with tousled blue hair and blue scales crawling up his exposed arms and legs, his torn shirt and shorts doing little to conceal them. His cerulean locks can’t conceal the tall, straight horns on his head either. His eyes are yellow and slitted like a reptile’s, and most will recognize immediately that this stranger is very draconic in nature. “Terrible, isn’t it?” The stranger says, his tone somehow mournful but casual at the same time. His clawed hand gestures to the whirlpool in the distance. “This is how the Cwyld spreads to other places, like Diasteros, through the sea. It sucks in life and it spits out Shades meant to spread the infection. I’ve been traveling for a long, long time, and it took me a while to find it. I think the Cwyldheart is down there, at the eye of the whirlpool below.” His words ring true, especially when he adds, “I think you woke it up! You’ve noticed the fish turning up in Aefenglom fishermen’s nets, right? All blackened and nasty and inedible? No, no, that’s not a bad thing, no one is accusing you-” His long, blue-scaled tail swishes across the frothing waves around your feet. “You’ll do something about it, though, right? After all, you’re a hero, right?” Yellow eyes fix on you expectantly, and you know then it’s going to be up to you and your fellow Mirrorbound. Maybe you feel the sense of challenge when he adds, “You’ll prove your courage, right? I knew you would! Well met!” Characters can interact in the dream with each other, and with Aindrias. Any questions your character would have for the water dragon, you can place in this thread and receive an OOC summary of his answer.

II. Taskmasters The Water Dragon, who introduces himself as Aindrias, gives three tasks in the dream, to prove your courage and willingness to fix what’s wrong with the world. No one can be forced to go, the dangers are very real after all, but it’s clear the things you’ll fetch on this little quest have a purpose. The dragon wants just as much as you to clear the Cwyld from the world. Anyone who seeks out Creia will be told (after enduring her thanks and delight that one of her siblings has finally turned up!) that her brother is a bit flighty, but he’s trustworthy, and he knows the sea as much as she knows the earth. So, will you prove your courage and fulfill the tasks given to you? a. Lightning in a Bottle A species of eel lives in the waters around Aefenglom’s coast, one that fishermen try to avoid due to the fact that they drain and channel the magic of Witches along their slippery skin, using it to defend themselves like electric eels. They can give quite the nasty shock when touched, and Monsters have an advantage in this task when it comes to dealing with the eels themselves, since the eels can’t drain them. Though, if you aren’t an aquatic Monster, such as an Undine or a Merrow, you’ll need Witch assistance to get down there. Witches can learn at the Coven how to enchant bottles to suck this stolen magic from the eels, and contain it within the glass, like literal lightning in a bottle. They can also learn to cast water-breathing enchantments, or transmute gills onto themselves and their fellows, so that they can go after the eels. Monsters can better withstand the shocks from the eels, and can’t be drained of their magic, but Witches are welcome to try as well. Just be careful! The eels are notoriously slippery and difficult to catch, slithering right through most fishing nets, since they’re able to compress and lengthen their bodies at will. The best way to catch them is to sneak up on a nest in the more still waters, bravely charge, and hope you can grab one or two with your hands or a fine-mesh butterfly net. Gather the eels’ stolen magic in the bottles. The more you can get, the better, the Water Dragon has assured everyone. b. Gifts from the Sea, Foricbly Obtained The other ingredients needed are fairly straightforward. Use your enchantments to breathe water, to have a bubble of air over your head like a diving helmet, or to temporarily transmute some gills, and venture out into the sea off the coasts of Aefenglom. The things you need here are all dangerous to obtain but not all that difficult to find. Teeth from huge, dangerous man-eating sharks, requiring you to straight up punch them in the noses in order to stun them and pull some of their chompers. Barnacles from the underbellies of whales that won’t hesitate to smack you away with their tails, or suck you into the belly of the beast like you’re nothing more than krill. Seaweed from fields of it infested with poisonous, spiky urchins that can turn invisible until they spear your flesh. Suction cups from the tentacles of strangling octopi. Many of these ingredients are interchangeable, they just have to be things from the sea, things you have to work to obtain. The more effort it takes to get something, the more potent a magical item it will prove to be, though large amounts of things that take less effort will work too, such as painstakingly gathered mussels from the coves or pearls from harmless oysters. c. Land and Sea While most of the ingredients needed to prove your mettle come from the sea, one particular ingredient comes from the land. Easier to gather now, what with the Underground people’s happy cooperation with Mirrorbound and the Coven, this ingredient is also the safest to gather, perfect for those who can’t subject themselves to the untold dangers of the sea. The last ingredient necessary for whatever Aindrias is helping the Mirrorbound create is... the Cwyld-eating moss from the Underground. He’s unsure if this will really work, but he thinks it will help, and his sister Creia trusts it, right? So, gather samples of the moss from the Underground, and seal it in opaque blackened glass containers to protect it from the light. You’ll need a lot, so it’s a good thing you all helped them so recently -- they never would have allowed you to take this much of the gray-green, swaying stuff before you eliminated the Cwyldheart deep in the earth.

III. Dive Into the Unknown Once you’ve gathered all the ingredients, Aindrias says, meet him out at sea, where the whirlpool looms on the horizon. The Diasterans will be happy to lend a ship and their sailing skills to help the Mirrorbound get out there, where the blue-haired humanoid form of the Water Dragon dances among the waves, gazing out at the gathering storm and the swirling, churning waters. The ship you stand on rocks and sways with the current, and the air feels thick and heavy, like your dream. Once there, he explains that the items you poured your blood, sweat and tears into obtaining can be combined with a touch of his own power into a magical bomb, one that he thinks will be capable of taking out the Cwyldheart below. Unfortunately, he cannot travel down into the depths alongside the Mirrorbound, so instead, he'll ask for volunteers, pouring sparks of his magic into bright little orbs like rainbow droplets of dew catching the sunlight and handing them out to those who answer yes to his question: "Will you dive beneath the waves and confront the Cwyldheart?" There’s just one catch. To get to the Cwyldheart, you have to be brave -- and fling yourself into the center of the whirlpool, to be sucked in like everything it has consumed, and he can’t guarantee you’ll make it out alive. Those courageous enough, heroic enough, gather your strength and your companions, cast your enchantments that will let you breathe underwater (Diasteran Witches are on hand to assist with this, offering magic charms to Monsters to maintain the spells deep under the sea, and can teach these spells to Mirrorbound Witches’ phylaxes, who will maintain the magic similarly), and… Dive into the unknown. To sign up your character for diving into the whirlpool, just leave a comment in this thread to make it easier to plot among yourselves and so mods can track who's taking the plunge! Those brave individuals may find themselves at a special advantage in finding and facing the final Cwyldheart next month...

IV. The Cwyldheart Below You fall. At first, the surface is turbulent, ice-cold, stinging like icicles piercing your skin. Then, there is dark -- and an eerie, all-encompassing silence, unnaturally cutting out the sounds of the raging sea and storm and your shipmates above. Hold on to your fellows; there's a long way to go, and you don't want to lose one another. Time and space feel slow and wrong, and it's impossible to tell whether you've been falling (or swimming downward?) for minutes or hours. Finally, through the impenetrable murkiness, shapes begin to loom up, strange and twisted. They look like mangled, reaching fingers at first, like the ocean floor putting forth dark tendrils to entangle you intruders, but once you get nearer and your eyes adjust to the cloudy gloom, you'll see the shapes are inert. It's the long-dead skeleton of a coral forest. And beyond it, in the distance, you can see the darkness pulsing like a beating heart -- the Cwyldheart, to be precise. Luckily, it seems any underwater-breathing enchantments hold, and gravity is strangely affected down here. It's possible to walk along the ocean floor or slowly swim (though running presents more difficulty through the resistance of the thick dark water). Watch out for the dangers hidden amidst the creepy coral outcrops as you make your way toward the Heart -- Shades of merrows, Undines, and all manner of twisted sea creatures patrol through the infected kelp and coral branches. They tend to gather in huge groups of mixed varieties, presenting an impressive obstacle once they notice the intrusion. If you're careful, quiet, and don't draw their attention with any sort of light or noise, you might just make it through without an encounter. If they do notice their territory is compromised, it's going to be difficult to flee. Stand (or swim) and fight, if you must… but it's not going to be easy, or quick. a. In the Belly of the Whale At the center of the dead sea-forest, there is a massive structure of what looks to be oily whale bones piled up, sharp and broken, twisted into a crude dome shape like an eerie analogy of a ribcage rising from the sand. Inside lies the Cwyldheart, an uneven, bulging mass of inky-veined gray blubber and rotten flesh, pumping steadily and churning the water around it. It's a viscerally disgusting thing, dead matter rotting in its core and pushing into the water with each twitch of its bulbous form, covering everything with a greasy film of death and disease. Now, the real work begins. Work together to combine the ingredients each of you brought along according to Aindrias's instructions, and most importantly, the orbs full of his magic. Each person carries a vital piece, but one alone can't do it: each piece must be placed inside the ribcage dome as close as possible to the Cwyldheart. Push through the choking weight of the murky water as close as you can; risking infection is inevitable, but some things are more important… right? According to the Water Dragon, once all the pieces of his magic are in place, he will know and activate the explosion -- and though some may have been skeptical, he holds true to his word. A many-sided voice rings out from the circle of magical orbs, warbling with distortion and distance. "Bravely done, my warriors," he commends, his laughter haunting in the dark but full of genuine joy. "Now... run!" b. Flee, Mateys As the magic-infused orbs activate, a ring of bright blue surrounding the inside of the dome pierces the darkness, blinding and harsh. It's the only warning before everything erupts in a cacophony of sound and light and pressure. Strong swimmers, grab your companions and go, fast as you can. Teleportation underwater has never been advisable, but maybe some particularly confident or panicky Witches want to try it. Whether you decide to stick together or flee in separate directions, you'll only have a few moments to make your choice before the force of the explosion shoves through the water, out and up. The ocean surges. The Cwyldheart bursts, the bits and pieces leftover of its ugly mass swallowed by the bright magic and burnt up in an instant into nothing. With tremendous force, the swirling whirlpool collapses into itself -- and then rushes up, seawater shooting up into a geyser that sprays high in the air. Those who couldn't get away from its circumference in time suddenly find themselves expelled from the sea in a quick and convenient(?) fashion, if likely a rather painful and unpleasant one. They'll also find themselves falling once again -- this time through the sky. c. Back on Dry Land This time, Aindrias's laughter rings light and amused through the air. Anyone hurtling down toward an unpleasant reunion with the ocean's surface will find themselves suddenly grabbed by strong (but gentle) talons, tossed up in the air again and told to "Hold on, little one!" as they land upon the blue-scaled back of an absolutely enormous dragon, whose long, serpentine body flows through the sky without the aid of wings but rather, giant fins that guide its course. The geyser water falls back down like heavy rain, and through it Aindrias swims gracefully in the air, quickly collecting all the falling heroes before they can hit the water. Knowing many of you brave warriors are injured and uncomfortable, the Dragon praises your efforts enthusiastically and does his charges the great favor of swiftly flying them all the way back to Aefenglom's shores -- where the stunned citizens watch and listen as Aindrias announces for all to hear, "Your Mirror folk are braver than I thought! They dove into the eye of the whirlpool and destroyed the Cwyldheart that plagued the ocean, spreading infection to other continents, and lately, making your fish inedible. A deed for the history books, I'd say!" Anyone who was able to flee before the explosion or make it back onto the ship will have far less trouble sailing back (though of course, it will take longer than flying) and are greeted with an absolutely delighted welcome by the local seafarers, who've already started seeing an improvement in their fishing haul. The ports are bustling again, and overjoyed Diasterans are just beginning to talk about returning to their home islands, armed with knowledge of the Cwyld and remedies for it taught to them by the Coven. Thanks to the Mirrorbound's efforts, with the destruction of the sea-faring Cwyldheart, the infection can be dealt with on other continents, on islands like theirs, and it won't come back with the tide.

Welcome to July's event, A Song of the Sea! This event marks the beginning of Aefenglom's endgame plot. For more information on that, please check out the OOC mod post detailing the rest of the game's run over here.

If you have questions specific to this event, please leave them in this thread here. For those signing their characters up to face the Sea Cwyldheart, please be aware that the mods may ask you to link your finished or ongoing threads before your character receives the boon for their participation (PMs will go out at the beginning of next month).

For plotting on the OOC comm, we've put up a little summary and post for you over here. And finally, as always, you are welcome to play in this log or set up your own logs in the comm as you prefer. Have fun!

Comments

[adventageous]

[Ferran's holding her still. And they're... flying?

After a few moments, it occurs to Alice that she should hold onto something. There are scales underneath her, and she reaches over to cling onto one. It's probably all right. They aren't in the water anymore, and they aren't dead, as far as she can tell.

The dragon finally lands at the docks, saying something to the people waiting there. All Alice really registers is that he's loud and her ear still really hurts and she feels too strange and infected to do anything about it right now.

As a group of Coven witches start climbing Aindrias to come collect the injured, Alice looks up at Ferran.]

...are you all right?

[noblegarnet]

[The dragon's praise all feels false, grating on his nerves in the few moments he processes it through the shock of the situation and his injuries. The hand that still hangs onto Aindrias even as the Coven's helpers approaches is shaking, but he starts to let go of Alice when she speaks, taking him out of his head and making him focus on the surroundings.]

I'm alive, [he begrudgingly admits, but even aside from the bruises he must be sporting under his wetsuit, his wings are bent awkwardly and tattered in several places, still stained by the Cwyld. He notices that she's bleeding, but doesn't think it'll do either of them much good to say it when healers are probably about to retrieve them and get to work.]

I guess it's over... [For now, anyway.]

[adventageous]

I'm glad.

[Alice leaves it at that. She doesn't have it in her to lecture him, and wouldn't even if she were feeling hale and whole. He's hurting, and she knows that his behavior was a reflection of that even if she doesn't know the details of his thoughts. It'd be a terrible thing to chastise him for daring to feel sorrow.

One of the Coven witches arrives and sits her up gently, starting to take stock of her condition. A second approaches Ferran as the first calls to the two that are lagging behind: "We have a witch and a fae, both in rough shape but conscious."]

[noblegarnet]

[There's little point to arguing over whatever help anyone's offering now; the danger has at least mostly passed, and not only would it take energy he doesn't have, it would just cause more problems. He simply sighs when the witch looks him over, identifying the infection with a glance. He's not looking forward to getting that cured. For a moment, he considers if it would be easier to cut off his wings entirely.

But that would remove one of the very few advantages this world has afforded him. He turns his attention instead to Alice, if just to get out of his own head for a moment.]

How many of those things do you think there are...?

[adventageous]

Cwyldhearts, you mean?

[Alice pauses to consider the question. The witches, for their part, seem content to work around their conversation as they take careful stock of Alice and Ferran's infection and injuries before determining how best to carry them down from the dragon's back. If they're talking, they're still lucid--and that's a good thing.]

It's hard to say. But we've now cleared the earth and the water. Perhaps next will be the air, with the Cwyldheart on a mountaintop or something of the like.

[She winces when a witch flashes a light into her eyes, which cuts off her train of thought for a few moments.]

I hope not many. This is... it's a painful business, cleansing them.

[noblegarnet]

[The earth, the water, the air... then, what? Would that be it? Only one more seems too optimistic. But with so dangerous a prospect, and so few of the Mirrorbound left to apply to the problem, it makes sense to hope for that to be the end.

Ferran mutters a later at a witch's request to dispel his glamor, which gets him an exasperated response, but that too is a good sign of sorts. He'll cooperate with however they want to move them, anyway—thankfully, his legs still work well enough, even if they're unsteady.]

I'm surprised it's not worse...

[Maybe by saying that, he'll ward off the idea. Then again, maybe it will just invite more misfortune. Thinking of the future hasn't exactly given him any hope in a long time, so he tries to keep himself from falling into that pit again.]

But I guess we won't be going to any mountains any time soon.

[adventageous]

No, I suppose not. [Alice's voice is mild, more an admission of her own state than anything else. She could be angry at him--she wouldn't be in such a state had he not lingered--but she sees no point in it. They lived, and they succeeded in what they set out to do. That's what matters.

(Besides, Alice has little room to talk about stupid decisions made while in emotional distress. She's made several in her lifetime.)]

Wherever the next one is, however, I hope I'm well enough to handle it when they find it.

[A witch gently pulls Alice to her feet, but as soon as she lets go Alice winces and stumbles. The witch turns to another and requests a gurney: "She can sit up just fine, but not quite stand."]

[noblegarnet]

[Though he gets to his own feet, he doesn't immediately follow the instruction to make his way down the side of the dragon; he wants to make sure Alice makes it down alright, even if he trusts that the witches are competent enough for the task.

He lets some of his bitterness seep through when he responds, though:]

If not, I guess they'll have to find someone else to throw at the problem.

[Ferran isn't likely to stay behind unless he truly thinks he'll be more of a danger than a help. If it comes down to it, he's willing to make himself invisible to prevent anyone from worrying about him the way that Alice has.]

wrapping so that we're ready for August shenanigans. >:]

[adventageous]

[The bitterness isn't unwarranted, directed as it is toward the Coven. Alice is wholeheartedly dedicated to the cause of saving this world, but even she can acknowledge that the burden placed upon the Mirrorbound is immense and unfair. One would think that the people who have suffered over a century of Blight would do more to fight it back.]

I suppose they would. They're running out of Mirrorbound to depend on, however...

[If there's more to her thought, it's cut off by the abruptness with which she's hauled upward and onto a cart designed for the wounded. The newfound distance between them--and the fact that the Coven witches are keen to roll her off the dragon's back as quickly as possible--means that this conversation is effectively over. Alice gives Ferran an apologetic wave as the Coven medics effectively separate them.

Perhaps she'll have a chance to see him again in the infirmary.]