middleofsomewhere | Fissures of Time: Ongoing

Fissures of Time: Ongoing

FISSURES OF TIME: ONGOING

... POI 10-12

FOR SOME, THE MISSION HAS BEEN MORE MENTALLY EXHAUSTING THAN PHYSICALLY. Distortions sprout around the domain without rhyme or reason, and the camps must be moved every new day to meet them, as well as stopping a distortion from deciding to form under them from their presence.

While there's bare-bones vegetation, at least they have their own resources to help one another, as well as what can be retrieved from the Ministry base during return trips to take misplaced civilians to safety. It's straight-forward so far...

...but that wouldn't be standard for the Voidtreckers, and some in their ranks don't want straight-forward. Starting during the early hours of Poi 10, there will be occasional rumblings throughout the land. They last for a few seconds and then stop, seemingly for hours; but then they return, and as the days go on, so do the tremors increase.

It seems the distortions too have become affected...

THE UNQUIET CITY. (CW: People unable to die/rising from the dead, body horror)

A city of rubble and ruin stretches far out around them, where once there were hills and vegetation. Much of the rubble is still smoking as fires smoulder. The fighting isn't over, heard before it's seen.

It must be connected to the same skirmishes seen in other distortions, and so most of you are prepared to meet warriors on foot and mount. But what awaits isn't only the horror of bloodshed. No: the reason that the fighting still continues even as the city lies in ruin is because fighters fall and rise again, as if death were nothing but a short rest.

Puncture marks litter skin and armour, holes from weaponry and blessed-magic visible in torsos, even the spaces of where portions of one's skull and brain should be.

Yet they cannot stop fighting. They cannot fall to the ground, rest. Whatever drove them to fight this war still inspires them to continue, screaming as much in pain as in some sort of twisted ecstasy. Perhaps they are too shocked to do anything else. A city locked in eternal war, distorted in time, doomed to repeat itself.

It's hard to set the equalisers here. Not much is stable and fights are likely to break out wherever there are people. The people of this city have their factions, but they will not hesitate to band together to fight intruders.

EYE OF THE STORM.

They might feel this distortion before they enter it. A spine-chilling thrill, the feeling one might get at the edge of a storm.

—For a storm it is. The moment they enter it their vision will be obstructed, winds howl around them and rain lashes down furiously making a swamp of the ground below them. It's freezing cold and as they walk they will feel something in the storm. Almost as if there are icy hands, reaching out to grab at them, to pull them further into the worst of the weather.

It's hard to know where to place the equalisers, hard to see where the edges of this distortion are. Easier, not by much, to move further in, to find the epicentre and try and take it down from there.

It's a treacherous journey, but the centre truly is calm, water frozen like crystals. Yet temperatures are dangerously low, so it's in everyone's best interests to set the equalisers quick and get out.

MEAN AND GREEN. As the rumbling continues, there comes a strange and worrying distortion. Worrying, as this distortion can be seen from the outside. A hazy blur that seems to move across the countryside, along the left side of the camp you're stationed at. It gets dangerously close at times, and when it does...

Green tendrils of plant life burst out, entangling people to pull them into the distortion. Or chains of flowers spread from the distortion out across the countryside. Beautiful and colourful in the otherwise sparse environment, but those flowers work as anchors, spreading the distortion, expanding it.

To get rid of it they will need to enter, and inside is a thick jungle of vines and bright colourful flowers awaiting them. The foliage is thick and the air musky and sweet. It's easy to get separated, and getting lost is only a matter of getting turned around. The leaves are sticky and vines move seemingly on their own, curling around unsuspecting limbs, trying to trap people in this colourful paradise forever.

And up in the sky above, a woman's laughter can be heard, the heat of the sun bearing down that becomes uncomfortable quick. But don't look up - you may find a large yellow eye - yellow iris, yellow pupil, golden yellow everything - peering back at you, and find yourself being pulled in by the very ground itself by a powerful force.

NO SANCTUARY. Protecting the camps hasn't been difficult, despite it being a Purple task. Other than rowdy refugees breaking out into fights, little else has appeared to disturb them.

'Eiiiiliiifii.... Siiiiliiifiii...
Merios? Herios?
Don't hide... don't hide...
Everything will be so perfect soon...'

People are woken abruptly in the early hours of Poi 11. If by some special sense, or by a grab at their throat, by a body falling on top of where they sleep, someone else stopping the refugee who was about to take a knife to them.

The refugees have become uncontrollable, raving about wanting 'their Gods back'. The ground rumbles as the woman's voice from the hazy jungle - ethereal, so divine - speaks from below. Grass rises and the sky above burns with a brightness like an approaching sun.

Setting an equaliser will calm the refugees, but only those in the camps. Starting from lunchtime, more warriors and civilians will be found appearing from the distance and from thin air, seemingly knowing where to find the Voidtreckers' camps - and after some very specific people.

Those with divinity, control over weather, nature, and death will be especially targeted, along with anyone who received blessings from the Gods.

OOC NOTES

OOC post. Ask questions here. Let us know about shenanigans here. NPC requests here, set up a thread here. Rewards go here.

TL;DR: Starting on Poi 10, there will be odd tremors around the domain, and more aggressive time distortions. From Poi 11 refugees will lose control of themselves and start attacking Voidtreckers, in and out of the camp.

It will happen abruptly to begin with, but some keen to reading energy will find that it is shifting; like something is breaking in from somewhere else (similar to the time distortions).

Extra equalisers can be picked up from the Ministry base and they will be there to help, but there are also more distortions happening around the domain, so they'll be dealing with those. The Ministry will advise that any non-combatants should stick to the base, and even use the scouting drones to help from afar, if they really need to help.

Undead warriors can be found outside of time distortions, and not all of the people outside of distortions will be 'permanent' people. Equalisers can be kept going for a few hours to keep these people away, but will also need go into recharge/cooling mode.

Don't worry if you're still busy with the Starting log! Or if you've been meaning to tag, jump in here!

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"HEY!"

It doesn't come from the tent, not behind Esteban, nor for him - the shout of a familiar voice in the air calling, just the others starting to wake up with the other Voidtreckers. A scene that spills out from another tent along with its owner and its intended recipient, a kid no older than eight thrashing all limbs as Tidus tries to contain them.

"Stop!" It has him occupied, that even if he sees the legs of a man approaching his side, he can't react to anything but to the foot that jerks up and kicks him in the face, knocking him over, letting the kid settle and stand.

And whoever that kid was after, they start for the tent with the man, ready to leave Tidus if not stopped.

Edited 2022-01-21 11:17 (UTC)

Complain about the heat, and suffer in the opposite direction.

There's been bouts of heavy weather in the other distortions, but Tidus can't see in front of his own nose - nothing but a curtain of rain forever in motion.

Gibbers in his heart comes out, a delightful idea that almost gets the small higgledy swept away before Tidus wraps his arms around them. But they glow, and start to do their best to control the intensity, at least in a bubble of space around Tidus.

"Hey? --Hey!"

And Tidus tries to walk, to move somewhere, searching for anyone else. Crap -- does he have to set an equaliser all by himself!?

Is it true? You see the flow of time-

What are Memories, but moments in time? There is some place in existence they've fallen into, but what they see more than anything distinct are the outlines of what once existed, patches of colour, shapes of what once was behind misty yet intangible glass. Layers of history atop of one another, but without any apparent order or sense of reason.

They will need to keep close to not break the String that keeps them secure. There is the sense of grass underfoot. The smell of Summer, the sense of Rain (constrained, restricted--suffocating), and the crying and the laughter moves in and out. History, memories - they are not still, just like the walls that decided to form in front of them, become more resilient.

The scents of nature drift. These walls - no, they are in some kind of memory of a temple. So large that they can make out no roof, and there is a grand heat that promises to burn them should they look up. Don't look up - it will be too blinding.

--No! We won't allow this land to perish. My children? And Herios and Merios? That damned God of Chaos! I refuse-

Their footing falls under them, and the two of them fall, the Strand threatening to break under shifting existence.

But if they fall close or apart, they both fall onto a ground of mud, light - whatever light is here - shifting with darkness, a crackling of a storm. Weather Report may feel affected - a great (if restrained) amount of Weather is present here, somewhere near.

The ground underneath them trembles. The energy here... it is tense, the world itself - it is afraid.

Esteban curses at the scene, rattled and running before he even really thinks about it. He doesn't stop the refugees, because he knows that he's teetering on the edge of too-much violence. It's not until he's seen Tidus grapple at the kid that he even thought there might be a chance to make it through without fighting them all down.

(He-- it-- it's the wakeup, he realizes. He hates that it's not the first time he's woken up with fingers tightening around his neck.)

"You okay?" He's by the swordman's side in an instant, dropping to the balls of his feet so that he can move quickly, but close enough to offer help if there's any need. He doesn't know what's in that tent, or why the two civilians seemed determined to get to it, but Esteban's priority is most definitely his friends.

The breath still quivers in his lungs. His heart is beating way too fast. His spine itches and itches, but he's trying to stay calm, not to make it worse. He's just a whisper from jumping out of his own skin though.

Just the fact that there is another-- oh! And it's Allen too!~ -- cheers Esteban way up, and he grins as he gives his companion an easy wink.

"I'd love any story y'd like t' share~" the half-elf assures, grin back in place. Just the fact that he's not alone in his efforts helps soothe him a lot, and learning about the stories his friend has collected is extra bonus points! Other worlds are so fascinating to him, and he collects these sliver of knowledge preciously.

He's yet to understand much about Allen, and stories, culture, concepts that his friend has grown up with as truth are a way for him to try.

Mina turned and glared in the direction of the attack, both hands raised as she fired a larger blast of energy, taking out her attacker.

With them safe, Mina’s hand slipped under Najaran, looking to find what she landed on.

It was a discarded steel toed boot. Thankfully absent of foot.

Najaran pushed herself up and rubbed at her face. "Maybe we need to chat less and fight more," she moaned.

“We’d still be attacked…” Mina said. She stopped as she heard someone charging. “Naja, watch out!”

She’ll push her aside as the soldier slashed at them. Mina would cry out in pain as the sword cut her back, a few strands of purple hair flying as they were cut.

The offerings can be seen - ....somewhat. Rather, it looks like they're sinking; slowly, twitch by tilt, being dragged steadily into the ground, though no hole is under them to be seen. Nothing seen pulling them, and they're not becoming crushed.

But as this happen, there is a feeling around Ryo, similar to the touch to Ryo's head that Eilifi had given to him. Warm, gently warm, and a yearning, a pain - it is a call with no voice, all emotion.

Coming from the shrine. And it is growing in presence, an overwhelming grief and desire to protect that's trying to reach out.

Faux's eyes widen in surprise at the response. Oh. His crew mate didn't understand him. What part though, he can only guess the more likely, program lingo. Yeah, he gets it. Okay, he can clear things up a bit better. He's done it before.

"Ah, the human," that's what Yota had called them, "that you hit with your weapon needs medical attention. I'm not human so I don't know what I'm doing for it's care." Hopefully that has resolved any confusion.

He hasn't forgotten about his other question that went unanswered, though he supposes one is better than none for the time being.

It was going alright. [While she'd been able to use it well enough at the start of the attack, Masumi's no longer calm enough to keep using it, by now too frantic from being targeted to focus on staying calm.]

Thanks for the help, by the way. [She's just going to press one hand to that wound on her arm, trying to slow the bleeding a bit. It's not life threatening, but she would rather not be bleeding.]

No problem, it's what I'm here for.

[Kyoko pops her Soul Gem from it's place on her collar and holds it up to Masumi's wound.]

Here, let me take care of that. Not like these guys can target me much more than they already are.

[The gem starts glowing as Masumi's arm stops bleeding and slowly begins to knit together.]

"Another one?!"

Guess who's shown up at camp - rushing over to where Taiki is, and then dancing back on his feet as a vine, closer to a tree root, slaps the air to reach him. He kicks the ground instinctively in its direction, but that's not enough to do the job.

"S'anyone gone to deal with the distortion?"

"I-"

Did someone speak to him just now?

Jolyne's string- Jolyne herself, really, because that's what her Stand is, it's her body, unwravelling, bit by bit,- wraps around his wrist and he finds himself holding tight. "It's always been rooms though...I've never been able to-"

...He's never been able to...reach BEYOND a room. Never like this. Then again he's not the one reaching necessarily. Something else, someone else, is pulling everything together and apart just as the two once separated by death and time try to tie each other together now. He almost looks up.

The feeling of heat against his cap keeps him from turning his head even more. The sounds and feelings pierce through to his very bones it feels though, and he cannot help but become hypersensitive to everything. Who's talking? Who's speaking? Who-

"...Chaos?" he repeats. Is it Kolokifi or someone else speaking to them? No matter- right now...wasn't Chaos... "...What's Krios doing..!?"

The ground falls. Weather Report wraps their arms around them both, sensing the wavering Ties around them as they land upon what could be called next to nothing. Almost, nothing.

Weather Report was part of another man once, and was given away. Weather is Weather but just as much Weather is now Emporio- a portion of soul accepted like a foreign organ, another limb, intrinsically tied. The Stand can feel the patterns of weather here, and the presence of Weather near.

And so too can Emporio, as it sinks into his soul.

It is....

A familiar feeling.

(11, 12 years, mostly alone, hiding in the walls, knowing That Man was there- ...and then being hunted by that same Man Turned God after the 'End of Time'-)

".........................................you're scared," he realizes, a fearful whisper as he sits up. "....You're as scared as..."

...He wonders. If they reached out- if he reaches out with his hands, Weather's hands, both their hands, could anyone reach back and find support in that?

(He tries, at least. He wants to try.)

“Woah, easy!” Ruby said. She got tangled up in the distortions and began fighting towards Cassie when she nearly got splattered.

“Freaky, I know, but…”

[Usagi spotted the distortion nearby and ran towards it, not realizing that Kyoko was there looking in. As she got there, she found her girlfriend chomping down on the seed and being covered in green energy. Once the energy dies out, she blinks as she sees Kyoko in a green version of her outfit, her spear now a scythe.

She'll slowly approach Kyoko, awed by it]

Wow, so cool...

Heh, thanks. I'll be honest, I had no clue that'd happen.

[Kyoko holds up a hand, willing the plantlife to make a path for her and Usagi.]

Though, uh, just out of curiosity, how much of that whole thing did you see?

Honestly? The entire thing. I'm jealous - I'm all "say magic phrase, naked and ribbons, ta-da!" and you get all of that!

[She grins as she playfully nudges Kyoko's side.]

But, I don't mind.

Usually it is closer to your whole thing, there's a lightshow and it's done, but big changes like this apparently make my powers get metaphorical.

[There's a brief awkward pause, but then-]

That girl at the beginning... That was Sayaka Miki.

He looks at Taiki and then at the attacker, snatching the man's dagger and throwing it to the ground. He wipes the blood off of the demonic blade and sheathes it, going over to Taiki.

The poor kid... he seems so gentle. "Just breathe. You're safe here now. I won't let them harm you." Someone so innocent... he doesn't deserve to be in the middle of chaos like this.

Sayaka Miki… she… must have been close to you, huh?

He should be afraid, especially with the way the offerings are disappearing, but he's not; instead, he's overcome with the grief and yearning emanating from the shrine, and with it compassion. He's felt like this before - not this specifically, but enough like it to understand.

He approaches the shrine and takes a knee next to it, laying a hand on the ground. "I'm here. Let me help you."

“And that’s not good at all.” Nozomi said. “Do you have an Equalizer? We might have to take this to the source.”

Heh, not really. I only knew her a few days, and she probably hated me to her dying breath. But... she reminded me of something I'd forgotten long ago. I became a Magical Girl because I wanted to make the world better, not become one of the people making it worse. In the end, she gave in to the despair being a Magical Girl brings and became the Mermaid Witch, Oktavia von Seckendorff.

[As Kyoko continues, blueberry bushes sprout behind her.]

I see. I had no idea things were like that.

[She ponders something - ribbons like Mami, then the sword… was Sayaka a sword user?]

What happened to her? I mean, from what I understand of your world, it wasn’t nice, but…

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Page 5 of 43

Fissures of Time: Ongoing

ii

eye of the storm

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The Unquiet City

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