voidtreckermods: (train)
VoidTrecker Express Mods ([personal profile] voidtreckermods) wrote in [community profile] middleofsomewhere2022-01-19 06:02 am

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!
  • nobodys_puppet: (Hooded Destiny)

    [personal profile] nobodys_puppet 2022-01-21 09:54 am (UTC)(link)
    She stopped and stood perfectly still, not sure of she was being the one spoken to. Probably not. so if she stood still, whoever it was would keep walking and they and whoever they were talking to wouldn't notice her, right?

    She missed when people didn't notice her.

    Besides, whatever he was saying made less sense than Somebodies usually made. User? What did that mean?
    ranoutofbuts: (Incredulous)

    [personal profile] ranoutofbuts 2022-01-21 10:28 am (UTC)(link)
    Annnd, the user stopped. Great! It would have been hard to miss him given all his glowing lines over his body. This means he can get some answers.

    Filling the distance between them, he catches up, "Thanks for the save, but that user is unresponsive, and I don't know anything about them outside of some incredibly basic facts." Being unresponsive he knows is not a good sign. He thinks he needs to find a medical kit, but even then he has no idea what he is doing.

    And then there was the question, "What were you doing running off like that anyway?" He questions. Maybe something more pressing is going on than he knows. "Is anything wrong here? I only just came back."
    nobodys_puppet: (Hood In Hands)

    [personal profile] nobodys_puppet 2022-01-21 10:34 am (UTC)(link)
    She tugged on her hood to make sure it still covered her face. He was talking to her, then. Her shoulders hunched around her ears. Did... did she really have to answer? How was she even supposed to start?

    "I don't understand what you are saying," she finally said. It was weird here, that people could hear her voice. But maybe this was one time when the Somebody couldn't.

    Not that life ever gave Xion what she wanted. If it did... Roxas would be here with them.
    ranoutofbuts: (Flustered)

    [personal profile] ranoutofbuts 2022-01-21 01:40 pm (UTC)(link)
    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.
    nobodys_puppet: (Hooded with eyes closed)

    [personal profile] nobodys_puppet 2022-01-28 09:59 am (UTC)(link)
    "I'm not human either..." She actually wasn't sure what she was, to be honest. "But if I heal a Somebody that attacked, won't it just attack again?" she was so confused. Normally her inclination would be to heal a Somebody, but... if she got attacked again and somehow lost the battle, then Axel would step in and the Somebody would be hurt far worse than what she did to it...

    And worse, Axel might get hurt in the process.

    Besides, she never healed anything that had attacked her before. Usually monsters just drop munny and vanish or just... drop. And it wasn't like she fought against the Somebodies back at the school. But she didn't heal them after Axel got to them. Was she supposed to?

    Now she wasn't sure. She shifted from foot to foot, not knowing what she was supposed to do.
    ranoutofbuts: (Incredulous)

    [personal profile] ranoutofbuts 2022-02-05 01:02 pm (UTC)(link)
    She's not human either?? Well, this has got awfully awkward.

    A quick look down at her, Faux isn't sure what kind of state his crew mate is in under that hood. Somethings up, but just like the user back there, he's not sure what it could be yet. He does note the term 'somebody' she used for the user. Guess he's not the only one bringing local terms around here.

    "Xion, was it?" hoping the pronunciation is right, "You're not wrong, however, we had instructions to make sure the time refugees are okay, even if they are violent. If at all possible." This isn't really his thing, but Faux doesn't want any users to derez because of himself, even if he honestly agrees with Xion here in principle. "These users- humans have been through a lot, taken from everything they know and love. They deserve another chance. We should at least try."

    "But I agree that our safety should be considered." He gives her a nod. "If you can source something to bind the user with, I can go fetch a medkit." a nervous smile slips out, "Perhaps between us, we can figure out how to treat them?" Surely the not-human user must have more knowledge than he does about medical matters.
    nobodys_puppet: (Hooded And Ready)

    [personal profile] nobodys_puppet 2022-02-07 12:19 pm (UTC)(link)
    "Our orders..." right. She looked at the Somebodies she had knocked out and shuddered. If she went against her orders... what would the train do to her? Would it send her away? Could she be turned into a dusk now that she was a person? She wasn't sure.

    But she was afraid.

    Far more afraid than she'd been by the attack. She had to follow her orders. That was ingrained in her but she had almost... almost forgotten.

    She raised her Keyblade above her head. "CURAGA!" she yelled, flooding the area with green light, healing the Somebodies she was aiming at and anyone else who happened to be standing too close.

    If she wasn't allowed to hurt them she could... could...

    Run. she could run away. Right?
    ranoutofbuts: (Flustered)

    [personal profile] ranoutofbuts 2022-02-14 08:42 am (UTC)(link)
    What Faux had expected is nothing like whatever this is.

    A flood of iridescent green, sparkles, and what looked like leaves, flood the area, including him, feeling a little nick on his cheek repairs itself. Then he hears the groans of users out of sight, getting up, including the one Xion had defended him against, which he sees stand up.

    Thoroughly confused, by the time he looks back at her for an answer, she is gone again. And given the amount of users around him now up and and about, probably a smart idea. Faux though is getting just a little impatient with this disappearing act.

    Fine. He can disappear too.

    Something is going on, and he needs answers!

    He disappears all right, activating his invisibility, and starts to track down Xion again.

    Whilst doing so, he analyzes what he knows. What does he know of her? Not much. A name, maybe. She's evasive, isn't human, has trouble with his terms, calls users 'somebodies', apparently is as efficient in her combat skills as she is in her medical... whatever that was, and seemed to react when she was told to follow orders.

    She also looked scared.

    Did... he scare her?

    An immediate shiver goes through his circuits. He hopes not. No other user so far has had this reaction to him. Maybe... there's something wrong with his crew mate? Faux isn't really the program to be dealing with user problems, but, he's the only one here. But if it is his fault, he needs to make sure she's alright. She is a user after all.

    He spots Xion around a bend, and attempts to keep up with the pursuit.
    nobodys_puppet: (Like A Reverse Cinderella Story)

    [personal profile] nobodys_puppet 2022-02-14 11:46 am (UTC)(link)
    Having remembered orders, she fought the instinct to fight when attacked and was relying on dodging and escaping. Fortunately she was agile, nimble, and fast. Unfortunately, however, there were no narrow ally ways to duck into, easy to grab roofs to haul herself up onto, and they weren't giving her space enough to summon a Dark Corridor.

    So he would get to see a fair display of tumble rolls, jumping onto and off of piles of things, and other basic Square Enix evasion tactics. She was mostly silent as she fled, cot flaring around her when ever she jumped or spun, but her hood never slipped so much as a centimeter, remaining firmly in place.

    Once or twice she called in her Keyblade, and those were the only times she'd speak. And even then just enough to cast Aeroga to either shield herself or buffet attackers back enough for her to duck under their now flying forms.

    She could have run for the train, but then she would have been putting the other passengers at risk if they tried to help. She could be putting Axel or Taiki in danger. Or worse, Axel could get in trouble saving her. So she ran away from the train, out to where most of these people had been rescued from, seemingly heedless of the danger in that.

    She'd rather be alone than get her friends hurt.